Faith Into Motion

August Devotional: Faith Into Motion

By: Shawn Stacy

Let me ask you a question- Have you ever said to yourself- “OK-Now I’m serious!”  Like- “Starting tomorrow, I’m going to do at least a 1 hour workout a day.”  And it just doesn’t happen for whatever reason- you don’t carry out the work you know you should do.  So how do we know if someone is taking something seriously?  Words followed by action definitely speaks volumes- it shows that you are serious about that item.  This devotional is coming from the Book of James.  In James 1:22-25 it says:

 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his natural face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

So much to talk about from this verse- first, lets break it down to give some perspective.  What is your natural face?  Bible commentator David Guzik says, “Your natural face is what you are really like at that present time.  Meaning- you should be able to truly look at your life and be able to describe your heart- what’s at the root of your Character?  In verse 25 it says the “perfect law”- this perfect law is the Word of God.  To dive a little deeper- James is writing to 1st century Christians about what it means to live out their faith in Christ.  The Word is the perfect law- which is the Love of Christ, this Love gives us freedom.

So now I ask myself- where in my life, am I just hearing and not doing?  If I’m taking my faith seriously- then believing needs to be more than just beliefs.  This is especially true as a Christian, that if I’m calling people to do this- am I carrying it out myself?  Romans 2:21 says, “You who teach others, do you not teach yourself?” I like to think of it for my role as a Captain- more than ever I want to make sure I’m leading by being an example to my crew.  Instead of just saying to do something- lead the way and do it myself first.  Show kindness and patience to that difficult patient.  Be the first one to give a child a station tour.  Jesus washed his disciples feet- he put himself last before his followers showing how to be selfless and loving.  So what we believe is not the evidence of our beliefs- what we DO is the true evidence of our beliefs.  Faith gets activated when our beliefs become action.  James says later in James 2:17-“So also Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  This once again is referring to what’s the character of your heart?  There is a sequence of events that happens here- When I believe in the Unconditional Love of Jesus for me- I spend more time with him.  I dive into the word and learn the true character of the creator of the world- and I find out that He is always pursuing me because He loves me.  I don’t want to do “works” out of guilt and shame- my heart is transformed- I want to love my neighbor as myself because my Creator is in me!  No longer do I want to love myself at the expense of others, but I want to love others at the expense of myself.  And I will physically act this out.  Charles Spurgeon said, ”The Grace that doesn’t change my life, will not save my soul”- meaning -The Grace that saves my soul-will change my life and be evident by my works.

So now the last verse in James 2:26 says, “For as the Body apart from the Spirit is dead, so also Faith apart from works is Dead.”   When we do what Jesus says to do in the upper room, His character will be deep in our hearts- Jesus says in John 15:4  “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”  This means the Spirit will be in us when we Remain in Jesus- dive into His Word- and it will make us want to do “works” and bear much fruit!  Let’s be Firefighters in Christ- that whole heartedly want to do “works” for the Glory of His Kingdom.