Sometimes when the bell rings to signal the end of class, I say to my students: “I hate to see you go.” On other occasions, when I am feeling a little playful, I might say: “I hate to see you. Go!” Obviously words are not everything. Punctuation is key.
This reminds me of what Our Lord says in Matthew 7:21. He tells us:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father in heaven shall enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Evidently Jesus is not content with mere words. What we say needs to be punctuated by active obedience. Words without obedience are incomplete. They are like a declarative sentence without a period