James What Good is it?

 

James

What Good is it?

James asked the question

 “What Good is it?”  

What good are the things in my daily life doing for my faith?

Are they keeping me from acting on my faith?

Are the other things in my life I call good, keeping my faith from doing good?

What good has your faith done today?

What good thing(s) are you hanging on to today?

What thing are you doing today? Would that thing save you?

To hang on to Jesus is to hang onto what Jesus is doing

Jesus said 

 "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."  John 5:17

So what are you doing?

And

What good it is?

 

 

What Good is it?

 

What a question.

 

Some of us ask this question all the time.

 

This type of person is the person

who keeps a clutter free life.

 

They are the person who throws out

anything that clutters or is broken or

can’t be used at that particular time.

 

 Their house is neat and in order.

 

My wife is like that.

 

 She like things, but she limits what she has so

that the most important things have a useful place.

 

Me, on the other hand…

 

 I, too, love things neat and in order,

 I hate clutter.

 

 But I grew up with nothing and so I have

a hard time throwing anything away.

 

Sandy and I both ask the question…

 

 “What Good is it?”

 

I see something that might be useful in the future.

 

Something I could fix if I get the time.

 

 Something that looks cool, but has no place.

 

 And when I am not looking…

 

 Sandy is making a trip to Good Will

and I will never miss it.

 

So some of us ask the question…

 

 “What Good is it?”

 

While others don’t think about it.

 

We all need to ask the question…

 

 “What Good is it?”

 

Someone once said…

 

 “Good is often the enemy of best.”

 

  We face choices every day.

 

 If we do not ask the question,

 “What good is it?” …

 

 We will miss the best for our lives.

 

If you see the ice cream in the freezer,

 a half hour before supper, you might

miss out on the best for you because

 you settled for something good.

 

James asked us the question…

 

 “What Good is it?”

 

James is asking what good is your “Faith?”

 

Faith is what you believe.

 

Your life is what you believe

and how strongly you believe it.

 

For some of us our faith is not much good

because it is cluttered with so many other things.

 

We hang onto too many things we

call “good” that keeps us from the best.

 

Faith is more than something you hang on to.

 

Faith is something you use.

 

Our faith in God is all about good works.

 

For we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works ,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

 

The theme of doing good is throughout the Bible.

 

We are to do good even to our enemies.

 Luke 6:35

 

When we are suffering we are to do good.

 1 Peter 4:19

 

So how will you answer James question? …

 

What good is it, my brothers,

 if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?

Can such faith save him?

James 2:14

 

James puts a lot of weight on this question

when he says, “Can such faith save him?”

 

Faith is not something you did,

 it is something you do.

 

Faith is not some prayer of salvation from yesterday…

 

It is action every day of your life.

 

Old things pass away, all things become new.

 

James says we cannot just be well wishers.

 

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?

James 2:14-16

 

James is illustrating one of thousands

of ways we should examine our faith.

 

Because the scripture say encourage one

another daily and not forsake the assembly.

 

He could have said…

 

 What good is your encouragement,

if you are not attending church,

 encouraging and being encouraged.

If our faith is cluttered in the midst

of all the other things we call good…

 

 Maybe our faith is doing no good.

 

Is it time to ask the question? …

 

“What Good is it?”

  

What good are the things in

my daily life doing for my faith?

 

Are they keeping me from acting on my faith?

 

Are the other things in my life I call

good, keeping my faith from doing good?

 

What good has your faith done today?

 

What good thing(s) are you hanging on to today?

 

What thing are you doing today?

 

 Would that thing save you?

 

To hang on to Jesus is to hang onto what Jesus is doing.

 

Jesus said…

 

 "My Father is always at his work to

 this very day, and I, too, am working." 

John 5:17

 

So what are you doing?

 

And…

 

What good it is?

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

James 2:14-17 NIV

 

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 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? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.