James certainly doesn’t pull his punches, does he? The essence of chapter 2 is that we need to be kind to everyone, not just the people we like or want to impress, we need to obey all the rules not just the ones that suit us at any given moment and that we need to back up our words with some solid action. “Faith without action is dead,” declares James!  (v.17)

James teaches us that it is in living out our faith that our faith is truly made complete. If we believe the things that the Bible teaches us and can live by them then God’s will is done on the earth and His Kingdom really does come into the places where we live and work.

If we are people who talk much and do little all we can demonstrate is that we have not been filled with the Spirit of God whose presence and work within us makes us true servants of the living God. Isn’t that a horrible thought? That we should claim to be something that we are clearly not! There is something really quite distasteful in the concept that we might advertise ourselves as Christians when we are incapable of living like one. I find myself thinking of the acts of Law that we have in place forbidding companies from advertising their products in a way that promises more than they will ever deliver – “It’s a con,” we cry!

James points to Abraham whose faith was beyond question. He was asked to sacrifice his own son, and I believe he would have too, had God not intervened. In the same way Jesus came to give himself in faith as a sacrifice for all of us and did not shrink away. Are any of us called to do likewise? And yet, in the smaller acts of faith we so often fall short do we not?

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Question:

What are the things that you struggle with most in your walk with Jesus? How often do you stop during your day and ask, “Lord what do you need me to do in this moment or in this place?

Prayer:

Draw us close to you Lord. Increase our faith in You and bless the work of our hands to live out the life that You have called each of us into. For Your name’s sake. Amen.