Life's Daily Challenge Devotional

Our part in faith

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also,” James 2:26.

Read James 2:14-26

To the faithful Christian worker,

True faith works. Without works faith is dead. Faith steps out on nothing with the belief that it will land on something. Belief that has no corresponding action is merely mental ascent. Mental ascent can never please God. Faith requires an exchange... An obedience beyond human strength, ability, or understanding. It requires action (even if that action is waiting) that places control in the hands of the living God.

One of the hardest commands in the Bible is to wait. Biblical waiting is not inactive. It involves a pressing into God for confidence, instruction, and strength. So there is a faith to wait, and a faith to do. They are both essential to our walk with God. In Old Testament times the Holy Spirit appeared to the children of Israel as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. God's command to the people was to follow the cloud when it moved and to camp whenever it stood still. So we must do with the same Spirit who speaks to us with that "still small voice.” To further illustrate this, imagine a waiter or waitress in a restaurant. With pad and pencil in hand, they stand ready to receive the customer's order. Once they have heard clearly, their goal is to follow the customer's instructions exactly. So we must do with God.

I heard a story once of a daredevil who drew a crowd at Niagara Falls. With wheelbarrow in hand, he asked the spectators how many of them believed he could push the wheelbarrow successfully across a tightly stretched cable that extended from one side of the falls to the other. Everyone in the crowd, wanting to see some action and excitement, enthusiastically responded that they believed. Then the man said, "OK, which one of you will be the first to sit in the wheelbarrow?" The crowd thinned!

Salvation is all about putting our lives in that wheelbarrow. Though heaven is on the "other side of the perilous falls," we are saved the moment that we climb into the barrel. Though our traveling conditions might appear to be open, exposed, and even perilous, this is the safest place in the world to be. This "secret place" is even safer than the most solid ground. The Father can consider us saved the moment we place ourselves in the barrel because He is a God of faith. Christ has guaranteed, through the shedding of His blood, his ability to reach the other side. No one can pluck us from the Father's hand. No one can separate us from his love. We can be scared, decide that we want to take back control, and climb out of the barrel at any time. Thankfully He is most merciful to pull us back in when we cry for help! Reaching our destination means walking in obedience. This requires us to go "wherever the cloud moves" and to "wait expectantly "wherever the cloud camps."