James 2:19-20
Are there still some among you who
hold that “only believing” is enough? Believing in one God? Well,
remember that the demons believe this too—so strongly that they tremble
in terror! Fool! When will you ever learn that “believing” is useless
without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good
deeds is not real faith.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
Our little ones shower us
with demonstrations of love and affection. We get hugs, kisses, and
lots of “I love yous!”…and we are grateful for every single gesture. As
they get older, they are learning that acts of respect demonstrate
love, also…things like helping without being asked, picking up toys and
responding right away to a summons, and showing kindness and
consideration to each other do not go unnoticed. We see their efforts
to prove their love to us…and while we would love them anyway, these
endeavors are not without merit – and we make sure the children know
that we have taken note of them.
The point is that God would love
us whether we ever publicly lived out our faith in Him or not.
Certainly, the thief on the cross had neither the time nor the means for
demonstrating his faith in Jesus…but I have no doubt that he is in
Paradise today, just as Jesus promised him. Still, Jesus commanded us
to demonstrate our faith. He used words like “go”…”make
disciples”…”teach”…”heal”…”minister”…”baptize”…and “share the Good
News.”
Jesus did not follow this up with, “If you don’t do
this, I won’t love you.” I believe that He gave these directives with
the understanding that we would surely want to serve in the name of One who had given so much on our behalf…that we would want to tell others about Him, and give them the opportunity to have Jesus as their Savior, too!
So don’t serve Jesus out of fear…serve Him out of faith!
Serve because you love Jesus so much and want others to know about His
incredible message and gift. Serve in His name because it’s the only
thing that makes sense. To accept His suffering and death for our sins
and then do nothing in return seems incredibly preposterous…and
downright ungrateful.
People who are truly faith-filled act
like it. They “walk the walk” to reinforce their claim of unfailing
love for Jesus Christ…and others know their true position by not only
their words, but also their actions. People who are truly full of faith
in Jesus Christ are busy serving Him as the Holy Spirit leads them. Are you one of them?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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