Am I Dead Yet?

Daily Devotional November 18th

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, ‘How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” (James 2:14-20)

These verses from the second chapter of James is a call to action. While I fully acknowledge that we are saved apart from works–we can’t earn our way to heaven–never should we then assume that our faith does not require our active participation. Yes, Jesus did everything to secure our place in heaven and all that is required is for us to believe in order to enjoy eternity. But our belief is demonstrated through the tangible effort on our part to demonstrate our relationship with God himself. We are to show love, generosity, compassion, mercy and forgiveness as the hands and feet of Jesus in our world today; as living embodiments of the Holy Spirit it is imperative that our lives actively display God’s love for others. In other words, we’ve got to ‘walk’ our ‘talk.’

During this time of COVID-19, I still struggle with how to do this on a regular basis. Many church programs designed to help others, which have made serving others easier, have necessarily been shut down; we are being told to limit our interactions with others–and especially those outside of our ‘circle’; the fear of catching the virus has made others wary of receiving anything from our gloved hands and masked faces. But the call to action inspired by our faith has not changed. The means by which we help others may need to change, but the mandate to do so has not.
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What needs do you see? Ask God for His creativity to begin helping. And as the Christmas season approaches, let’s be intentional. It has become abundantly obvious that we can’t just ‘wait this out.’ Let’s find ways to provide solutions for others. Let’s find ways to be Jesus’ hands and feet to those around us. Let’s actively show His love, generosity, compassion, mercy and forgiveness to all those God brings into our lives and whose needs we become aware of. Let's show the world what our faith with a pulse looks like!
~ Pastor Jane