Daily Devotional (April-11-2024) Faith and Work.
Scripture Reference: James 2:14-17 - What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
The gulf between talking and doing is a great one. Talking love is not the same as giving it through our actions (1 John 3:16-17). Talking faith is not the same as showing it. A faith that talks long and does nothing is dead and useless. It cannot save anyone.
James said, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-26).
The doctrine of “faith alone” falls short every time. James argues, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (2:21-24). Faith without works is dead (2:26).
If you believe, what are you waiting for? Why are you hesitating to act on your faith either in obedience to the gospel or in the pursuit of good works? Why are you not changing your ways? Why do you ignore the changes?
Prayer: “Oh Father, thank You for helping me to see myself by giving me Your Word. Help me to change my life so that I may please You in all respects. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”
