Have you ever been around someone who was all talk?  They make big claims but never seem to back it up.  Maybe they repeatedly say they will do something to help you but never actually help.  Eventually you come to realize that they are all talk, there really isn’t anything to what they say.  James talks about this when it comes to our faith.  Is our faith all talk or do we back it up with how we live?  Let’s look at James 2 together today.

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 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? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

It’s not as though our actions or deeds earns us credit with God.  Our deeds are simply the evidence of actual faith.  If we really have faith of course it will effect the way we act.  This is a good reminder to those of us who are followers of Jesus.  Others form their opinion of Jesus by the “deeds” they see in our lives.  If we live lives of love they think of Jesus as loving.  May we be a people who are not all talk but have deeds in our lives that attract others to Jesus.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave