The kind of faith that really matters.

Only faith that acts is faith that matters. That's what the Christian Scriptures assert, and -more importantly- what Jesus claimed. Jesus said “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. (Matthew 7:21, New Living Translation). King Herod is a poster child for those of us who give mere lip service to serving God. When Jesus was born and the three wise men showed up looking for him, Herod publicly told them: Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”(Matthew 2:8) But submitting himself to this promised King of the Jews was the last thing on the mind of this self-professed Jewish King. Jesus said that putting his teachings into practice was God's litmus test of wisely accepting them. Dr. Neil Anderson notes that no one can consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how they actually believe. The question that these truths should provoke each of us to reflect upon is this: What beliefs about Jesus does my lifestyle reveal? Since we're all prone to the "halo effect" (inflating the good that we do, and minimizing our conflicting conduct) this is a question that is best answered with the input of others who know us well and see us often. For example, the Apostle James writes: "If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless." (James 1:26, NLT). Think about this: What's my talk like, and am I walking it out? I'll share more on faith that really matters tomorrow.