Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
January 4, 2023
Read James 2:14-26
14 My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? 15 Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. 16 What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? 17 In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity. 18 Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. 19 It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear. 20 Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? 21 What about Abraham, our father? Wasn’t he shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions. 23 So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and God regarded him as righteous. What is more, Abraham was called God’s friend. 24 So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous when she received the messengers as her guests and then sent them on by another road? 26 As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead.
Good Morning, Living a life of faith!
When I opened my Upper Room this morning and saw that our passage was from James, I thought, “Oh good! James will get us motivated!” James gets a bad rap because there are those who believe that others will read his words and think salvation is all about good works.
I see just the opposite. James isn’t saying that doing good will save us, but he is saying that we must act upon our blessings and our faith by serving the needs of others. To live a life of faith is more than sitting in church every Sunday. We are called to serve in response to our gift of salvation. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we begin our lives anew.
It’s like getting a gift that you never take out of the box. Think of those collector’s items that you work to keep pristine so that they don’t lose value. But why would we want something that sits on a shelf or display case and gets dusty? If it’s a toy, we should play with it. If it’s a book, we should read it. If it’s Grandma’s china, we should enjoy a meal on it.
Our gift of salvation should not be stored on a shelf so it’s there when we need it. It should go with us every day wherever we might go. We are called to be walking billboards for Christ as we shower the world with love and grace. Through faith, our salvation should be well used. Unlike a collector’s toy in a box on a shelf, our faith and blessings continue to grow as they are used. The more we share and serve, the greater our own blessings become.
Our faith should be evident to all through our actions as we walk the walk of Christ.
Gracious God, Thank You for loving us. You sent your son to teach us the meaning of love. May we wear our salvation so the world will know that we are Yours. Thank you! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: How can I show someone I meet today what a genuine Christian life looks like?
Unwrap your gift! Pastor Liz