Have you ever noticed that when you alter the stress on a word in a sentence, your emphasis is different - sometimes the entire meaning is changed?
Last week it hit me: The just shall live by faith.
Romans says the just shall live by FAITH. Emphasis in Paul's context is that faith is how the just live. Faith brings life. Faith moves life.
James say the just shall LIVE by faith. They shall not sit still in their corner by faith. They shall not simply have the afterlife taken care of by faith. If they are just (justified, seen as just/righteous/sinless in God's court), they will LIVE by faith. Faith will be action.
What do you think?
To God be all glory.
Hoorah!
ReplyDelete=)
*sigh*
I've been sitting here for ten minutes trying to figure out how to say what I think...
*sigh*
ok...
I think...
...
...
In my head... sometimes... I limit God to big things.
I say "faith will be BIG action!"
when most of life... is not big action...
most of life is taking out the garbage, or walking down the hallway with a friend... or checking out at the grocery store.
Sometimes I see life... I see God... I live faith... in such things... but so often I limit my (for lack of a better word coming to mind) expectations of God to "big" things... like war... or elections... or marriage... or martyrdom... or... foreign missions...
James talks about faith being action sometimes relating to someone in need... I pray for the sight to see where I can clothe my fellow, instead of only praying for him to be warm and filled and sending him on his way.
(I almost typed him with a capital H. "Whatever you've done to the least of these, you have done it unto Me.")
but what does that look like for me? I... don't know... that's why I'm praying... I need God to show me... because I can't see it.
and like I always say... Proverbs 3 tells us that we should acknowledge God in all our ways and He will direct our path.
"He who is faithful with little will be given much."
Does that go for direction as well as money?
He who is faithful with a little direction, will be given much direction?
There.
finally, 30 minutes later... something... came out of this muddled head.
So... let's pray,
pray for God to grant us wisdom, and knowledge, in deciding what actions to pursue,
and let's thank Jesus for giving us a model of faith as action.
*shrug* so... my reply wasn't as lucidly typed as it was sincerely felt... but I do thank you for sharing your thoughts. =)
what kind of contemporary action would you commonly associate with modern faith, if any specifically?
Oh!!!
I was talking at church today... and someone commented on my friend's haircut... it's short, and he has no facial hair.
The guy who commented said that it made him look mature.
The same guy then turned to me, (Who, -for those of you who don't know- has long..er hair and a fairly acceptable excuse for a beard.)
And said that my appearance made me look mature also.
My mind is easily distracted into deep thought, by such random things as this, and I replied -somewhat randomly- that I would much rather look faithful, than "mature".
He proceeded to ask me, what "faithful" looked like...
blonde? he asked... short? skinny?
It was a good question...
it made me ask myself why I said what I said...
I'm still not sure...
but if being faithful makes you look a certain way, I definitely want to be recognizable in that way.
The Fruit of the Spirit, anyone?
So broad... but so beautiful.
So vague and so challenging.
*shrug*
That...
is what I think.
Almost... in the same form as that in which it was thought.
-MAC <>< =)
P.S.
I should ask him what "mature" looks like... maybe that would help me on my quest for a deeper understanding of faithfulness.