Faith Apart From Works
Is Barren
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have
faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is
naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep
warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is
the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me
your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You
believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder. Do
you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is
barren?
James 2:14-20
Jesus knew the experience of homelessness. At one point he noted
that foxes have holes and birds had nests and then in Matthew he stated, “but
the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Jesus had been there and done
that. He knew the experience.
We must help the spiritually destitute find a heavenly home by
sharing the gospel with them, but we must never neglect those who are poor in
this world’s goods. A heart for God will also be a heart for the homeless.
Compassion is love in action.
Our Daily Bread –