I don’t know about you, but I like tools. I don’t necessarily use tools a lot, but I feel like I should have them.
When it comes time to do some kind of home improvement or repair project and I need a tool that I don’t have, my wife always wants me to go borrow one from a friend. I feel the need to go buy a new one so that I’ll have it for the future, even though the likelihood is I’m never going to need it or use it again.
See, if I have tools, I can get stuff done. Tools accomplish tasks. They do things. They affect change.
James tells us that is what Biblical faith ought to do as well. He says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14 NIV)
Such faith… in other words, can that kind of faith save them?
So, is it Biblical faith to just be religious? Is it Biblical faith to just go to church? Is it Biblical faith to just memorize Bible facts and data and be able to argue about Biblical information?
No. Biblical faith is a faith that works. It’s a tool. It accomplishes something.
We’re going to talk in the next few devotionals about some of the things that faith actually accomplishes in our lives, but I want you to examine your heart and your life and ask these kinds of questions…
Is my faith doing me any good?
Is my faith doing my neighbor any good?
Am I showing my neighbor that my faith has been put to work and that it has a practical effect in my life? I am overcoming temptation. I am rising above circumstances. I am lasting through moments of change and transition.
Is my faith really working?
Ask yourself that and strive for a Biblical faith – a faith that works.
