Works Convey our Faith

Verses: James 2 : 14 - 26

My thoughts about the verses:

When I read this I thought about the different people that work at a job.  Some people at jobs are there for the money only.    There are those that believe that loving their job is enough.  There are also others that love their job and their performance shows it.  Others are there just to make friends.

Let us start by looking at the people that work for only the money.  They come to work do their job and go home.  They do not socialize with their co-workers.  They just do enough to keep their job.  They are happy being where there are for all they care about is making money.  As long as they make money they do not care about anything else.

This is much like the person that does all kinds of good works without faith.  They are doing works because they think it will gain them entrance into Heaven.  They do not trust that Jesus’s sacrifice is enough to get them to the Glory Land.  They are doing the work but do not have the trust in God that they need to live.

We all know people that love their job.  They spend their life working.  Yet, there are a lot of times their performance doesn’t shine.  They get by with making things peaceful in the environment.  Yet, their work is not stellar.  They try over and over again to move up the corporate ladder but are overlooked because of their performance.  They are just getting by because they are not causing trouble yet their work is just not enough to consider themselves the top of the work environment.

We all know people like this in the Christian world.  They have faith in God.  They just do not share their love to others.  We can think of these people as the ones that are there for church but that is all.  They do nothing but show up to be filled by the spirit.  When it comes time to help they disappear.  They have good intentions but never follow through with it.  They love God yet, their actions do not show it

Then there is that group of people that love their job and perform with all of their heart.  They are the standouts at their jobs.  They put their whole spirit into making things happen.  Their love for their job shows through their performance.  They are the ones that the bosses notice and they are the first to move up the corporate ladder.

This group is those that have Faith in Jesus.  They have no fear of dying.  Amazingly these people not only have faith, but they also work hard to show others Jesus.  Their whole life is about expressing their faith in God by helping those around them.  They do the works to show honor to God.  They want the world to find the love of God.  To do this they work tirelessly to help those in need. 

There are people that are at jobs just to make friends.  They do not give a hundred percent on their job.  Instead of doing their job they are socializing with everyone.  They believe that if they are in the perfect social circle they are accomplishing their goals.  We also know them as the people that come and go at jobs.  Eventually the bosses notice that they are not working and let them go.  They move onto a new job and create the same environment. 

This is much like the person that does not have faith.  They also do nothing for anyone else but them selves.  They are hunting for their best friend.  Yet, what they miss is that they need God in their life.  They have needs.  They are in need of someone to show them the love of Jesus.  Yet, for some they will never find it.  There will be many that find Jesus. 

God wants us to have faith and show it through our love of others.  We need to express our love of Jesus through the actions we do.  Works without faith does not give us hope.  Instead of having hope there is this desire to always prove we are good enough.  Faith without works does not express love to others.  The faith is there yet no one gets the chance to feel it from us. 

We have to be there for the people that do not have faith.  We have to be there for those that do not feel love.  We have to understand that the group that wants friends is those that need to see Jesus shine through us.  We have to love people by helping them with their spiritual, emotional and physical needs.  We have to be there so that they can find the love that they need in their life.

Prayer:

We love you God.  We praise you for your saving grace.  Help us grow in faith.  Help us love others.  Help us show others Jesus through our actions.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you found the saving power of God?  Are you conveying your faith by your actions?  Are you helping others find God?  What do you need to do to change your life today?