You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble!     James 2:19 NKJV

Many people profess to believe in God. I once heard a celebrity say they believed in the Creator. This celebrity died a couple years later, and I remember thinking how I hoped he had gotten past belief to actual obedience. It’s hard for us to know who will go to heaven and who will not. The most important thing for us to know is that we will.

In our Scripture passage James said we do well to believe there is one God. This is a good start. Belief is kind of like starting your car when you have to make a long journey. It’s the starting point. Then we have to put the car in gear, so we have to go from believing to loving. In John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” He said in John 15:10, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” And in John 15:14 Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command.” Jesus stresses how love and obedience go hand in hand.

Many people will tell you they believe in God. Many will even go so far as to tell you they love the Lord. In order to complete the journey, however, we have to be obedient to His commands. For us, this world is just a stop along the way. Our permanent home is in heaven. Some people, however, never make it home. Instead, they find themselves in hell. My former pastor used to say if we go to hell, we go as trespassers. We were never meant to be there. God made us to be in close fellowship with Him and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. He didn’t create us to go into a fiery hell.

He is a God of justice, however, and if we fail to obey, hell is where we will find ourselves. We are told in Revelation 21:7-8 that the one who overcomes will inherit all things and He will be our God, and we will be His children. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Many people believe their belief is enough. Jesus said, however, in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

If we truly believe in the Lord and we believe that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, it’s a good start. I’ll admit I have a hard time comprehending the great love He has for us. And for the life of me, I can’t understand why He loves me so. But we have to believe in how much He loves us. Then we have to trust in Him. And most importantly we have to obey.

I’m not just talking about the 10 commandments. I’m talking about studying His word. I’m talking about reading the gospels and seeing the many examples Jesus set for us on how we are to live our lives. I’m talking about putting Him first and others second and ourselves last.

If you believe, you have a foundation to work from. This is good. It’s the start. If you have started with belief, follow it up with love, trust and obedience.

God demands obedience. The devil believes in God. His demons believe in God. They even fear Him. But they don’t obey.

So, what about you? Do you just believe? Or do you believe, love and obey? Now is the time to get it right, before it’s too late.

Have a great day!