"Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." 
   - The Apostle James (James 2:17)

Take a look - in the picture of the two paths, the one on the left is a lot of knowledge and talk but little action, and the one on the right is little knowledge and talk, but consistent action on the available knowledge.

If someone were to invite you to walk one of the paths with them, which would you choose?  No brainer, right? Right. The right.  (As long as he or she leads the way!)  That's the way of spiritual adventure.

Is it true that the proof that one believes what one says one believes is whether or not one's actions correspond?  Is it true that if one's actions do not coincide with what one says one believes, he/she doesn't actually believe it, no matter how verbally convincing they may be to you or themselves.

Perhaps we are always living out exactly what we believe.  Perhaps the real way to tell what a person believes is to look at their actions.  Sounds familiar - doesn't it say somewhere that "you will know them by their fruit?"

If I say I love Velma, and then when I see something that one of us needs to do do but think, "Oh, she'll get it", I actually do not love my wife?  At that moment I do not love my wife.  But if someone asked me if I love Velma, I'd say, "Sure!"

About a month and a half ago another one of those phrases came to me in the morning, seemingly out of the blue.  It was, "I am transformed by my action."

I had been wanting my faith to be more alive but I had not been "getting it" that the way that faith is made to come alive is when I do the behaviors that the faith calls me to.  It's the stepping into the behavior that gives the faith its life, just like it was the action of standing up that brought the healing to the legs of the man healed in Acts 3:7.

So, lately I have been more (not completely) persistent in getting at the little projects that lie in front of me, whether that be at home or work.  Instead of seeing them as chores to get over with, I am seeing them as invitations to enter into - it's what acting by faith means in the moment.  Unfortunately the belief: "I need to know more in order to be faithful" may creep in and I may live as though I believe it - trying to "learn" more rather than acting on the little mustard seed of faith that I do have.  (I do have to confess that I have been more energized the past number of weeks.)

I don't know about you, but I know way more than I act on!  In fact I wonder if I live out 100th of what I think I believe or know.  That's sobering . . . and humbling.  Stinks real bad. Somebody is suffering unnecessarily because of that, or at least not getting blessed the way they should be!  I guess my behavior will tell if I care or not.

"Jesus, I regularly fool myself by talking bigger than I act.  Sometimes I fool others.  Would you help me to surrender to the action that my faith requires in order for it to live?  I want to treasure those life-giving convictions and preserve and strengthen them by getting my behavior connected to them.  And whatever fruit comes out of it, I hope others are blessed and that You get the credit. Thanks a lot.  Amen"