"Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21 (RSV)
A man went to his priest to tell him that he would no longer confess the Apostle's Creed as the words meant nothing to him. His priest asked a small favor of the man, 'Confess the Creed until you do believe the words. Confess the Creed at your breakfast, when you greet your neighbors, at your work, as you raise your glass with your friends, and as you lay your head down. Confess it in every place of your life until the words take root in all you do and who you are.'
It is a rare Christian who passes through life supremely confident in Christ. We experience times when the words are empty sounds. We sing the liturgy, confess sins, receive absolution, offer hymns and prayers. We do all these, yet the words have no root within us.
We can choose to mouth the words at such a moment though we might as well be reading an aspirin bottle. Or we can persist in our confessions, prayers, and hymns, seeking the disconnect between the words and our lives.
Faith is a living thing, empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is to be active the hours of our days, in our words, actions, silences, kneeling at the altar, and in the sweat of our work. Our Lord teaches that our words of faith are alive when they are tied to our daily actions. Our daily walk, following our Risen Lord wherever He might lead us.