But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe and they shudder.
Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? James 2:18-20 HCSB
It’s important that we understand that it’s not our works that get us into heaven, but our faith. But, here in this Scripture passage what James is actually saying is that if we have faith and we believe, then works come naturally. We want to serve the Lord. We are told in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from me you workers of lawlessness.’ Jesus is clearly telling them that their works, apart from faith and obedience, is useless.
It’s great to make that public profession of faith and get baptized in front of the church, but it doesn’t stop there. To get baptized and think you are done would be like buying a car and thinking that it doesn’t require maintenance to keep it running properly. We have to do things like keep fuel in it, do oil changes, replace tires and other maintenance work to keep it going. A friend recently purchased a Tesla. The neat thing about it is that she doesn’t have to put gas in it or ever change the oil, but she does have to recharge it every few hundred miles. All working things require maintenance.
Our bodies require maintenance. We can’t eat fast food every day and expect to be healthy. We need to properly fuel our body with a well balanced diet. We need to exercise. As Christians we need to keep fueled by being filled with God’s Holy Spirit. We need to exercise by serving the Lord. We are told in Isaiah 40:31 that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Some versions say those who trust in the Lord. Our pastor explained it this way, waiting on the Lord could also mean serving the Lord. Just as a waitress or waiter waits on us or serves us at a restaurant.
Maintaining a close relationship with our Lord and Savior requires time and effort. Just as a car requires fuel, we require being filled by His Holy Spirit. We also require daily Bible study and prayer. We should never simply read a passage of Scripture, but we should study it to understand it’s meaning in it’s proper context. When we do these things, we get to know Him better. When we get to know Him better, we love Him more and more. The more we love Him, the more we want to serve Him. Our faith to Him leads to us wanting to work for Him.
When we love the Lord, we want to show His love to others, even those who aren’t so lovable. We want to serve Him by serving others. We want to do a lot more than just warming a pew in our local church. We want to be active members of our church and actively serve Him.
Like a vehicle or a human body, one of the worst things that can happen to a Christian is to sit idle. As Christians, we must work to help God further His kingdom. We must serve Him and witness to others, even if it is only by the way we live our lives. We must always be ready to share with others what He has done in our lives. In order to do so, we must be sure that we are properly maintaining ourselves by being filled with His Holy Spirit. We must avoid taking in things that are not approved by God. We must also not spit out things that are not God approved. We must be good witnesses.
Have you failed to keep yourself fueled by the Holy Spirit? Have you messed up your engine by taking in too many things that are not God approved? Are you keeping your motor running by serving Him? Maybe it’s time for a complete tune-up.
Performing proper maintenance can keep us running smoothly as Christians. Please don’t neglect to do so.
Have a great day!