October 16, 2012 – Day 9

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ²⁰ You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹ Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ^[1]

The writer of Hebrews tells us about faith, “It is the substance, [title deed or legal document], of things hoped for and the assurance of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). There were many great people of faith and all of them lived according to their faith and died without seeing the fulfillment of it. James attacks the notion that a person can have one without the other. If a person has faith then that faith does something because without deeds a person’s faith is useless.

Every act of faith requires an action. James gives us the example of Abraham traveling out into the wilderness to sacrifice his son. This was the son that he had received as the first installment of the promise he had from God to be built into a mighty nation and yet his faith led him to prepare himself to sacrifice him. What about while Abraham waited on Isaac to be born? I know that both he and Sarah initially doubted because of their advanced years, but having received the assurance of their promise Isaac could only be born if Abraham had gone into Sarah.

Our Bible tells us that the promises of God are “yea” and “amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20), but a promise is nothing without action on our part. One cannot received the hoped for promise of a job without applying for positions. One cannot receive the hoped for promise of a spouse without preparing to receive them. One cannot expect to enjoy the benefits of life in Christ without walking in obedience to His Word. Faith apart from deeds, works, is useless; it is dead.

What does your faith require of you today? What do you need to do to walk in obedience to what God has called you? Your faith is powerful and will accomplish great and mighty things, and please God, but you have to put it into action. Step out on your faith today and watch God move for you.

O God, our faith is so often very small. We find ourselves stuck in the mindset of human accomplishment. We believe the lies of the enemy of our souls and doubt the efficacy of our prayers and Your ability to move in our situations. We say we have faith but our lack of action betrays us. We read, hear, and study Your Word, but do nothing with it. Forgive our lack of faith and unwillingness to step out on it. Enable us to be doers of Your Word today and not mere listeners. Open opportunities for us to operate in our faith so that those who do not believe may know that You are God and that Your Word is true. We surrender ourselves this day to Your will in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.