The Action of Faith

Probably one of the most hardest things for Christians, is to be diligent in the doing of the Word. Some people just don't know how to take what they've heard from the Bible and apply it to their life. Then there are those, who just say "It's too difficult to do those things". Usually the difficulty comes because people don't want to lay down the things in their life that are contrary to the Word of God.  They don't want to loose friendships (worldly ones) or change habits all on account of what others will think.
James 1: 21 says,  "So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you. 22 Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice. 23 If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are. 24 They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like. 25 But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do."


We must come to realize that FAITH is acting on the Word.  It takes FAITH to do what we've heard. You see, the Word of God, only comes alive in us, in the measure we practice it.  It's a well known fact, that people can know what is promised to them, in the Bible, and still not receive it.  You can know healing is for today and not be healed. It's the knowledge of God's Word acted upon that brings forth the promise.  You must believe! Believe is acting on the Word. You must confess your belief. "With the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation".(Rom. 10:10) We have to SAY to the mountain to be removed..then what we say, IF we believe, we will have what we SAY! (Mark 11:22-24)

So then, we understand that to be a doer of the Word demands that we DO something. Which is ACTION on our part. It's time we stop procrastinating and decide to execute the Word in our lives. It's time to decrease so that He, in us, can increase.

I close with a classic story about procrastination and it goes like this. An American eagle was flying high over the Niagara River on a cold and wintry day. He saw a dead bullock (young bull) floating down river. He thought to himself, "What a great feast!" He landed and sank his talons deep into the carcass and began to feed on it. He thoroughly enjoyed the feast and was unwilling to let it go. He thought that he had plenty of time to withdraw. He continued to eat. He decided that he would let go at the last minute. Not long after that he was approaching the falls. He tried to fly away. However, he was in for a rude awakening when he found that his feet were frozen to the carcass. In the end, he fell with the carcass. (Paraphrased: Chaplain Forest D. Davies. Biblical Prisoners. Duluth: Priory Books, 1988, pp. 1-2).

You see, too often we get so embraced with the worlds way of life, we lay aside our Christian values and convictions, incorporating worldly habits and desires. Often we think we're being a Christian witness, when all the time we've jumped on the bandwagon, because it was appealing.  And just like that eagle, we find out at some point, that we've got our talons frozen to the carcass, and we can't escape.  I encourage you today, to choose to serve the Lord with all your heart, all your mind and all your might. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.  Be a doer of the Word.

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