Monday, September 17, 2018

 

Imagine a person who believes so emphatically in the benefits of exercising that they go out and purchase gym clothes and a membership to a gym, but then they fail to actually go to the gym. Imagine another person with a terrible headache but who is convinced that a couple of aspirins will take away their pain. They run to the drugstore, buy a bottle of aspirins, then they put them in their medicine cabinet and never actually take the pills. Can conviction or beliefs alone do these people any good? Obviously not. What a person believes is not what makes the difference. What a person does in combination with what they believe is what makes the difference.

 

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? – James 2:14 NIV

 

James, the brother of Jesus, writing to a group of well-versed Hebrews, tells them that irrespective of the fact that they might have the correct knowledge, theology, and system of beliefs, it is simply not enough unless what they believe is accompanied by deeds. The same is true today; the fact that we may have the correct system of beliefs is not and will never be enough. We can believe in the benefits of exercising and eating healthily, but if we fail to apply what we know, we will never reap the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. We can believe that hard work and wise money management leads to wealth, but if we do not work hard and manage our money wisely, what we believe is of no practical value. We might think that if a Christian woman marries a Christian man it is a recipe for a successful marriage. However, there is no guarantee that the belief system of the couple is going to afford them a successful marriage unless they are willing to apply what they believe; believing is never enough.

 

Presently, our religious institutions suffer no lack of information; as you may have noticed, we have weekly live services, audio messages, video messages, books, magazines, and daily devotionals. There is no shortage when it comes to what we believe but there is a total disconnect when it comes to the application of those beliefs. Many people are content with listening to God’s word and this is a great thing, but it will never be enough. The reason being that God did not give us His word for information’s sake; He gave us His word for the sake of its application.

 

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22 NIV

 

It is not enough for us to believe God’s word, we must also learn to trust and apply it. It is not enough to believe in love without actually loving or to believe in forgiveness without forgiving. It is not enough to believe that we should follow Jesus without following Him. It is not enough to believe the Bible is the word of God unless we are willing to do what it says. There is no benefit to believing something unless we are willing to apply what we believe.

 

What do you believe?

What are you doing with that belief?