WATCHWORD:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
14 Dear brothers, what’s the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren’t proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone? 15 If you have a friend who is in need of food and clothing, 16 and you say to him, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat hearty,” and then don’t give him clothes or food, what good does that do? 17 So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good works is no faith at all—it is dead and useless. James 2:14-17
Meditation:
Faith Part 3: Faith and Works
How would you define faith? When you dig into God’s Word, it seems that the idea or the Word of faith has multiple meanings. In Hebrews 11:1, we see that the central idea of faith—is confidence or trust. In the Bible, the object of faith is God and his promises.
That does raise a question: How is our faith visible?
Now we are getting into James territory. James is tough, he is making a strong point, one that, if we don’t pay heed, could disqualify our “faith”. James 2:17: So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good works is no faith at all—it is dead and useless. So much for resting on our faith laurels! Get off your duff, do good works, and prove you have it! That is a heavy lift!
So that seems to answer two illusive questions: How is our faith visible? and How does one lead by faith? Ah, ha! The answer: “By example!” Of course, that is what we are commanded to do. Remember? Go and make disciples to the ends of our worlds; in our house, next door, around the corner, in our work space, you know, where we leave our fingerprints, where we leave the perfume of our faith.
I wonder how our “adolescent faith” or our “young-adult faith” or our “grown-up faith” has impacted our children, as they watched us, modeling our faith in everyday life. Leaving a seed of grace, or a mark, onto the next generation.
Here we are in this age and stage of our own lives, we have grandchildren and great grandchildren, and we may look back with pride and prayer for where they are in their faith development. If that is the case, take no credit, just acknowledge the Marker of our Faith, and say “thank you, Jesus!” They may have seen something in you (a seed?), but God caused the growth. Conversely, should you see nothing that looks like your version of belief, of faith? Take no blame, continue to pray, trust God, and believe that His Spirit is involved here, and His work is not done. In His time.
In his time, in his timeHe makes all things beautifulIn his time
Lord please show me everydayAs you’re teaching me your wayThat you do just what you sayIn your time. Amen
Be Faithful:
Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. — Mother Teresa
Prayer for Faithfulness:
Gracious Lord, our efforts at being faithful seem to produce mixed results. Sometimes we do what is right and the result is pain and suffering. Other times we turn our back on what is right and things seem to go just fine. Faithful living is confusing to us. Forgive us when we are faithful just to gain an advantage. Forgive us when we reject faithful living because we can’t see any advantage. Have mercy on us, we pray, and help us to love You so deeply that the only desire of our heart is to honor You with our lives, no matter what the outcome. We ask all this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
