"Being and Doing...."

Titus 3:8   "This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men."

Titus 3:14  "Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful."

Ephesians 2:10   "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

James 2:14-18.  "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?   If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.  But someone may well say, 'You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.'"

These few verses are but a sampling of God's Word that describe the relationship between "being" and "doing".  These two concepts are inextricably linked in the word "faith".  Faith is inherently an action word.  It is dynamic and by its very nature involves vulnerability and risk.

Trusting Jesus, committing my life to Him, drives me to action.  According to the verses above,  acting on my faith in a way that honors God is a learning process,  is proactive ("careful"),  becomes a way of life ("walk in them"), and meets the pressing needs of others.

Lord, I confess that too often I am so self-absorbed that I miss the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and in so doing, I miss the opportunity to be engaged with You in living out my faith.  Please help me to look upward and outward more than inward.  Help me to "be" and "do" today.  Amen.