At Your Word

Do you ever read certain portions of scripture and think, “I wonder how that actually went down?”

One such example for me is when Peter walked on water.

That poor guy has been getting the shaft for being the one with “wavering faith” in the midst of the storm. Yet I can’t help but notice how many other disciples sat “safely” in the boat while Peter made his first attempt at transcending the laws of physics, only to eek out a few steps before he began to sink. (I’m laying it on pretty thick in hopes you’ll pick up what I’m laying down.)

This, I believe, is the pinnacle of what James is trying to get across when he says, “You show me your faith by your words, and I’ll show you my faith by my works.” (See James chapter 1.)

There’s no argument that all twelve disciples “believed” Jesus was the Christ at that point in time, but Peter was the only one willing to stake his life on it.

Real talk.

If we want to become intimately aware of what we really believe to be true about God, our actions are ALWAYS speaking louder than our words.

James’ remark merely states the obvious. According to James, the brother of Jesus, if our beliefs have never made it beyond our yapper, he questions whether they are really our beliefs at all. (And we should, too.) Faith isn’t just about what we believe—it’s about what we do because of what we believe.

It’s time to divorce ourselves from that Laodicean spirit, dust off our Bibles, break up the fallow ground over our hearts, and rend the heavens in the Spirit! May our words merely serve as the inception of the conviction with which our actions may ultimately follow, as we endeavor to love in word—and in deed.