“But someone will say , ‘you have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.”
James 2:18 (NKJV)
A woman walks down a rough dirt road, simply dressed, wearing sturdy boots and a backpack. She greets numerous people with a smile and speaks to them briefly through an interpreter before moving on. Another woman walks into a room filled with children. It’s after school, and she smiles as she gives each a sandwich and an apple and gets them seated. Then, she tells them the day’s activities and gets ready as they eat their snack. Two women, in totally different environments, doing different things, even in different countries, but with something very much in common. They are doing the work that the Lord has led them to and sharing their faith and love for Him by loving those around them.
Salvation is a blessed gift from God, independent of any action on our part, other than the acceptance of this gift. No works on our part will gain us one step on that narrow path to Heaven. It is in our thankfulness to God we can fulfill His purpose for us here on earth – to do His good works and bring glory to His Name (Matthew 5:16-18).
Each of us is valuable and precious to the Lord as His children, but also as an intricate part of His plan for the world. We have an important purpose, an impact we are supposed to be making on people around us. We may know it, or we may never see it coming or even know it happened. It is up to us to plant the seed and let God bring in the harvest (I Corinthians 3:16). When we are doing our Father’s works, we are not only pleasing Him, but we are drawing closer to Him so that His light shines through us to show others what they are missing. Then, when they ask us, we can share our merciful and loving Lord with them.
We don’t need works to be saved as some religions try to teach, but we should also never need to have to tell someone that we are a Christian. Our actions and lifestyle should be a testimony to Who we belong to. It’s going to be pretty hard to prove faith without any works to show for it, but I can show you my faith by my works and never have to say a word. We have all heard the saying that actions speak louder than words, right? It is up to us to read our Bible and understand His will in order to be able to follow His leading for our lives. It is our job to be the light in a world of darkness…to have the light and love of God shining through us every day, just by living our lives. Holy and godly lives doing the Lord’s works in love and faith.
