A FAITH THAT WORKS

Read: James 2:14-20

Faith without works is dead. -James 2:20

No one can be saved by doing good works. On the other hand, the apostle James taught
that faith without works is useless (2:30). To illustrate, he pointed out that faith alone
won’t feed a hungry person. Only faith that takes action will (vv.15-16).

How timely this message is! Right now much of our world is suffering a bellyache from
not enough food, while countless others have a bellyache from too much. Tragically, we who
have enough to eat often "bellyache" about our food being too done, too tough,
too sweet, too cold, or too bland. Then we complain about the dirty dishes that our food
creates. A poem from one of my cookbooks turns such ingratitude on its head. Pauline Davis
wrote:

Thank God for dirty dishes, they have a story to tell

While others may be hungry, we are eating very well.

With home, health, and happiness. I shouldn’t want to fuss

By this great stack of evidence, God’s been very good to us!

Oh, that we might be grateful, for gratitude is vital to a working faith. People
without gratitude seldom care about having a working faith. But believers who are deeply
thankful for God’s blessings long to share those blessings with others.

Make sure your faith is useful, not useless. And don’t neglect the needy, both
spiritually and physically, around the world – and around the corner!

-Joanie E. Yoder

FAITH ALWAYS HAS WORK TO DO.

OUR DAILY BREAD, Copyright 1999 by Radio Bible Class,

Grand Rapids,Michigan. Used by permission.

 – Geo –

Edwardsburg, MI