"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" James 2:14-17
With this passage, I want to ask why do we constantly just say "I'll pray for you?" Prayer is absolutely very powerful, I'm not trying to discredit it at all, but why do we hide behind that. For one thing, I know I am guilty of saying I'll pray about something and sometimes, I forget to pray for that.
Faith without works is dead. D-E-A-D. We can't always just pray for people. Sometimes it takes more than that. God didn't call us to just pray for people. Jesus didn't just pray for people, He was out performing good works. So why do we rest for just praying? If we see people in need, why do we just pray for them, why don't we get out there and help them?
In Matthew 25:35&36, Jesus says, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
That was for God's people, the ones that get to enter Heaven. The people on the left get told this: "Depart form me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me." Matthew 25:41-43
Jesus wants us to help others. You never know when an opportunity is going to present itself, but when it does, don't disregard it. I'm not saying we have to go and do huge things, but even small things as talking with someone who looks alone, or treating a homeless man to lunch. God gives us opportunities, it just depends on whether we are willing to take them. I wanna challenge you all and myself.
Show God's love, don't just pray about it.
Also, read the book "Under the Overpass." It's great and inspired this blog post. (:
xoxo,
Lauren
