James 2:26 -- On Faith and Works

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:26 This is an interesting comparison. The body without the spirit is dead, but the reverse isn't true. Spirits without bodies live on. Perhaps works are the same... our actions speak volumes about our hearts, even when faith is temporarily absent. In Revelation 20:12 it tells us that everyone will be judged according to their works. Now, that doesn't mean that spirits should be without bodies... God sent us here to get one after all, and it definitely doesn't mean that works should be without faith. Only that spirit and works can exist alone, but bodies and faith can't. Faith is a belief that leads to action, the impetus for what we do, and isn't any good without the actual doing something part. Today, let's fervently believe and have faith that God's way leads to happiness... but let's also think about what we can do about that in our lives--how we can live our beliefs and integrate them into our habits so that we can move forward and become those people that both we and God know we can be.