We are constantly inundated with information.
At our finger tips, and increasingly on our wrists, is more data than has been available for the whole of human history.
Accordingly, we are flooded by podcasts, books, TED talks, and speakers all promising to show us ‘the way.’ And we gobble it up. Hungry for any tidbits of insight that might make us more effective, we consume self-help at an unprecedented rate. The question we rarely consider however is: what am I doing with all this information?
I would caution that data without an associated action is trivial.
For example, you can read a whole book about the importance of sleep but unless you take action and apply it, you’ll just be more tired. Paul in the book of Romans puts it this way:
“Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing is what makes the difference with God.”
Action makes the difference. Information will hopefully inform our decision, but data for data’s sake is meaningless. There simply must be action.
Growing up I wrestled, and every week we would learn some new moves and drill them. Although I now ‘knew’ them, I was reticent to apply them in league matches or tournaments because they were outside my comfort zone, they weren’t what came naturally. However, I noticed my real growth in the sport came when I was willing to execute those new moves during matches of consequence. Sometimes they failed spectacularly, regardless my comfort and understanding of not only the move but the sport grew as I assimilated them into my approach.
Paul is pointing out this same effect in the verse above. Knowledge isn’t bad, but application is what makes the difference. We must act (even on incomplete information) or we can find ourselves stymied, forever aggregating. When we are willing to take the risk and trust God’s way vice our own, our comfort and understanding of Him grows and becomes part of our nature as well.
So what are you doing with all the information you are consuming? Or a better question might be, “How was your last decision informed by what you read/heard?” Maybe we should stop asking each other what we are reading/listening to, and instead ask what we are applying.