I recently read an article about the fattest people on earth, people weighing well over a thousand pounds, people who are eating themselves to death.  At a certain point, they lost the ability to walk.  Eventually, they were bedridden and depended on others feeding them because they could no longer even feed themselves.

It reminded me of a lot of people I find in the church.   They are fed more and more knowledge every week.  They attend church services, join small group Bible studies, read Christian books, listen to podcasts – and are convinced they still need more knowledge.  Truth is, their biggest need is to do something.  They don’t need another feast on doctrine.  They need to exercise.  They need to work off what they’ve already consumed.  Some have become so used to consuming the Word without applying it that you wonder if they can.  These are the spiritually bedridden, resigned to spending the rest of their lives studying the Word without ever making disciples or tangibly caring for others.

– Francis Chan

 

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

James 2:14 (NLT)

 

How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

– James 2:20 (NLT)

 

…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

– Philippians 2:12 (NLT)

 

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

– James 1:22-25 (NLT)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart