James does not hold back. He expects us to act upon what we say we believe.
Inside every Christian is the Holy Spirit that desires to do great things for God through us. Our bodies are mere shells, with the power of God within. Our Christian journey is about us decreasing the thickness of our shells and exposing more and more of the light of God within us.
God wants to use us to transform the world. To share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To feed the hungry. To give shelter to the homeless. To care for all of God’s creation. And so on. God wants to use us.
Our
faith in Jesus Christ gives us salvation.
All that is necessary to be reconciled with God is our belief that Jesus
Christ died for our forgiveness. But
that is not the end of the story. We
don’t just sit around on our hands with a giddy smile on our faces. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and desires
to do some serious work with us. And the
rest of our life is lived in response to that Holy Spirit’s urging. The Christian life is about getting better
and better at doing what God prompts within us.
Getting better and better at doing, doing good. Not just believing good things . . . but
doing good things.
Saint Francis once said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." May that be our lives.