What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say “Goodbye and have a good day, stay warm and eat well”-but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, Some people have faith, others have good deeds. But I say, How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? James 2:14-20
In my late teens and early 20’s I found myself grappling with the role of works in the life of a believer. While I understood salvation couldn’t be earned, passages like this one in James left no doubt that God was expecting my life to produce some serious good fruit. In fact a literal translation of verse 20 could read faith without good deeds is lazy! Somehow that sounds more chiding than useless, although I would be mortified to have either accurately applied to my life.
To this day I can find myself identifying with Goldilocks as I attempt to find the “just right” balance in this area. Somewhere between retreating to the refuge of a monastery, and spending every possible moment in active service lies the sweet spot. The place where my love and devotion for God naturally flows into reaching out to others, not to earn his approval, but because I already have it.
Jesus gave us the secret to spiritual equilibrium:
You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. Matthew 22:36-39
On the surface this might sound simplistic, but the reality is consistently loving God with everything we have and constantly putting the needs of others over our own is anything but easy. So sure, if you can live fully surrendered to God at all times and in every situation this should be a piece of cake!
But for those of us who still find our flesh trying to rise up in a moment of weakness:
I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:14
Managing our time, finances, and schedules well is a necessity if we are to strike the balance we are aiming for: loving God and others well.
I grew up in a small town, I think they actually referred to it as a village. A church, a lumber company, a volunteer fire department and a small general store pretty much made up Main Street. While the population was only several hundred people they knew how to have a parade.
Our parades consisted of a band from the regional high school, a few emergency vehicles, horses, tractors, those random people waving and I honestly cannot remember what else other than numerous floats with people tossing candy. That was by far my favorite part of the parade! I would head home with a supply of chocolate and sugar that should have lasted far longer than it did.
During the parade, unfortunately, a large volume of candy hit a puddle, or maybe a pile left behind by a passing horse. Some of it landed in the path of an approaching tire. Either way the percentage of waste was rather high.
We can find ourselves squandering our god-given resources in a similar manner. Sometimes we waste things on ourselves. Hoarding the blessing of God and effectively saying:
I’ll build bigger barns so I’ll have enough room to store my goods. Luke 12:18
The possibility of doing things for God while neglecting our time with him is just as real and perhaps a bit more subtle. We can find ourselves telling God to hold on a minute while we scurry about completing important tasks.
But the Lord said to her, My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Luke 10:41-42
As the world around us seems to spin faster and faster our devotion to God must override our schedules. When our dollars don’t seem to stretch as far, it is loving others more than ourselves that will push us to continue to give.
May the only thing we cling tightly to be our relationship with our God. If we get that right everything else will fall into place.
Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19-21
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