Belief With No Action

James 2:18-20 ⁽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 my deeds. ⁽¹⁹⁾You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ⁽²⁰⁾You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (NIV)

        For many years, Abraham and Sarah long to have children. They had been careful to follow the laws of God and had earned favor in His sight. But due to the many years of being together with no children, Abraham seemed to have lost hope in that he would ever have children, so he decided that he would leave all his possessions to one of his servants. However, God visited Abraham and promised that he would be a father of many nations. His descendants would be more that the stars in the sky.

        After some years had passed, God remembered the promise that He made to Abraham and allowed Sarah to conceive. They had a son and named him Isaac. Isaac grew into a great young man and had built a loving bond with his father. He was the only son that Abraham and Sarah had together, so due to their old age, it was understandable that they would have had a close father and son relationship. However, God decided to test Abraham’s love for Him.

        Even though God promised a son to Abraham, He did not want Abraham to love Isaac more than Him. Therefore, God gave Abraham the ultimate test. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son. Abraham knew that God was able to do anything even if that meant raising his son from the dead, so Abraham went to the Lord’s designated place to carry out what He had commanded. After placing Isaac on the altar, Abraham raised up the knife to sacrifice his son of promise. Just as Abraham was about to follow through with the sacrifice, an angel called out to him and told him not to sacrifice his son. He had proven his love for God through his faith of obedience.

        How many people would be willing to make that kind of sacrifice for God? If you were asked to give up your home, job, car, family, or maybe to even relocate to another country to evangelize for Christ, could you do it as an act of faith? Sometimes, God will ask you to forsake all to follow Him. Luke 14:33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. (NIV) Sometime following Christ means that we will have to leave people, places and things that we hold dear. When God calls you to do this, it is a test of the faith that you have. Many Christians claim to have faith, but you true test is when you have to rely on it.

        As in the story of Abraham, he was tested by God  and therefore, his faith shined through. The Apostle James lets us know that even the demons believe in God, but their belief is no good because their deeds are those of wickedness. God wants us to show our faithfulness to Him by our actions and not just by words alone. Good works cannot save anyone, but showing the love of Christ, giving up the things of the world, and following Him not only test our faith, but stretches it beyond measure to be fit for the Kingdom of God. 

 

The Book of James:30 Days of Devotion for Men by K L Rich is available on Amazon.com.