Praise is not always given to the person that invents it but rather to him who shows the world how to use it.
James 2:14-17
Did you know that the inventor of the carburetor was a guy named Siegfried Marcus?
No?
Neither did I…
But I’ll bet you know the name of the man who figured out how to use it.
Henry Ford.
Oh yeah, I know about him. He basically changed the world.
Does that mean that Henry’s deed was more important than Siegfried’s?
Well, it would seem so because that’s how we usually see the value of deeds.
So why do we do them?
Well, sometimes we do deeds because they need doing.
Take for instance cutting the grass. Unfortunately, down here in the Deep South, grass grows almost the entire year. You either “do the deed” and cut it regularly or you’ll be able to hide that 1971 broken-down VW in the front yard.
Other times, deeds are done to gain attention – the “doer of the deed” wants the glory and praise of being known as the person who did it.
Regardless of the motive, one thing’s for sure. God sees all deeds and knows the heart that produced them.
Today’s Tiny Words. Big Life. Bible verse is from the Book of James, who’s known for “telling it like it is”. In other words, he doesn’t “pull any punches.”
One of the things he talks about is “dead faith”. In other words, just saying that you’re a follower of Jesus isn’t good enough. You should be doing something about it, aka deeds.
And he’s not talking about doing deeds out of an obligation or an attempt to gain favor from people who’ll think you’re great by doing it. He says that deeds should be produced naturally from an outpouring of love, as Jesus commanded us to do.
The Tiny Words. Big Life. takeaway is this: Pray to love others and have compassion that drives you to get off the couch and do something about it. Pray for the conviction to serve others. Pray to honor God with your actions, whether someone notices or not.
And who knows, maybe that neighbor who always keeps their yard neat and tidy will drop by with a stick of dynamite and do the deed to take care of that broken-down VW.
James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.