For the rest of my days may my trust in You, Father, be as it is the first of every morning. I plead that this will always be the case. No matter what day it is or what time You wake me, my first thoughts are of You, “My Father is calling me to join Him.” There is no better way to begin my day.
James 2:14-17 (<<click to read the passage)
No matter how many times I read this passage, Lord, it makes me stop and think. As we follow You, truly faith and acting on that faith go hand in hand – one is incomplete without the other.
We can have faith – believing in You as our Savior – but if it doesn’t affect the way we live, if it doesn’t cause us to do certain things and to stop us from doing other things, is it real? Faith must be more than an “intellectual assent” as my study Bible* notes. It has to be more than “agreement with a set of Christian teachings.” Faith must impact how we think about things. Faith kindles a fire in us that causes us to move and do. It is not a stationary thing. We must be about our “Father’s business.” Luke 2:49
We have a problem, too, working solely from the other end. Following You, Lord, is way more than good works, even if they are “spiritual” in nature. If there is no faith in the equation it is just going through the motions. Church attendance, teaching Sunday school, volunteering at a soup kitchen, working at an orphanage, even preaching from a pulpit – these things have minimal impact if not driven by faith.
Help me, Lord, to be faithful to the utmost in all I do for You and the kingdom. Fill my life, fill my actions. Amen.
Aug 27th, 2016, Sat, 5:27 am
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
