James 2 - A Day of Good Deeds

I remember my AAA Midget hockey coach telling me my first year in the league that his captain the year before, his best player, would never go on to the NHL because he wasn’t coachable.  I thought that odd, but he was right.  Many guys I played with were talented but lacked vision, drive, or coachability.  Others were much less talented, but they abounded in cocky Canadian hockey confidence.  And they were coachable.  As for me, I was pretty stubborn, and still am.  I indeed need the challenge from Saint James to grow, to be coachable, and to be useful to God.

As Christian brothers and sisters, it’s reasonable to ask ourselves if we really want to grow.  Do we want God to teach us?  Are we satisfied with our bad habits, or do we want to honor God, nay, obey God?  It's easy for me to point out the speck in your eye, but what about my eyes, are they clear?

Everyone has some sort of plan.  Even no plan is a plan.  So we might as well make good ones.  Godly plans.  Saint James is right, we have to put our faith into action.  God determines what is good, but He also shows us in the OT and NT what good looks like.  Let’s be good people.  Churchmen.  Proverbs 31 women.  Sensible people.  Helpful, sober, kind, and wise.  Let’s stop worrying about being important.  Who cares about that.  In fact, let’s embrace and love being ordinary people, God’s prized possession - that’s extraordinary!  May we never, ever brag.  Self-importance is a curse; it's Screwtape’s secret weapon.  

We need to grow daily.  As C.S. Lewis reminds us, we will fail.  Get back up.  It’s not just a matter of self-discipline.  We need the Holy Spirit's guidance to put our faith into action; we need all the counsel of God’s word.  For we are all guilty men in need of mercy.  We believe in sin (pretty easy one there).  The Bible teaches that there is a judge (2:13).  Seems like an odd question, but does the modern church really believe that?  Much hinges on whether or not we think God cares if we spend the day focused on ourselves thinking it’s good enough just to believe in God and let others do the work.  If life is a race, a fight, and a contest God expects us to win, then we must act like it.  

Jesus saves us from the wages of sin and He saves us unto eternal relationship with Him.  With this new life, we must be useful and grow - we must be fruitful and produce good deeds.  Faith in action starts with a simple step forward.  A cup of coffee for a friend, or a kind word to your daughter or your son.  Grand love is genuine love.  Don’t underestimate God’s ability to use the simplest form of obedience.

You know the Baptists (like me) love to say that you have two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak.  It seems to me James is pushing that thought further.  We have limbs, hands, feet, fingers, and toes, etc.  Our body is designed for action.  Abraham was a man of action.  Like him, we are designed to do good deeds for God to make our faith complete (2:22).

Of all the deeds we do, are any of them ‘good deeds’?  Let God decide that, but be determined to love God in action today.  Our faith in action is between each Christian and God.  Let’s lift each other up today and find ways to motivate and encourage each other to work hard and do good deeds for Christ.

        Let us, Lord Jesus, by your grace, honor you by obeying your royal command to love our neighbours as ourselves.  May today be a day of good deeds and may what we think, say, and do show how much we trust in you.  Amen.

At the park with Jackson.