November Morning

November is usually a blur for me, and this past year was no exception. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the only things on my mind were my finals and whether Auburn was going to pull off a win in the Iron Bowl. My world felt very small. So when a service project showed up on my calendar, it felt like just one more thing added to an already full plate. I knew it was important, though, so I went.

That morning, we served lunch at the Lexington Hope Center. As I stood there handing out plates, my perspective did not just shift. It shattered. I watched men walk through those doors who had almost nothing, yet they were more thankful for a single plate of food than I often am for everything I have waiting for me at home. I realized how often I overlook what I have because I am too busy focusing on what I think I need next.

The hardest moment came later that day, when I sat down to eat my own meal. While I was stressing over a test score, I was living in the top one percent of the world’s most privileged people. That realization humbled me. It forced me to ask myself an uncomfortable question. Was my faith actually changing the way I lived, or was it just something I believed in my head?

James asks that same question in James chapter 2. In verses 14 through 17, he asks, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” He describes seeing a brother or sister in need and responding with kind words but no action. Then he answers his own question, saying, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

James is not saying faith does not matter. He is saying faith is meant to move. Real faith shows up. It does something. James reminds us what really matters in James 2:18 when he says, “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Faith is not proven by what we say we believe. It is proven by how we live, especially when it costs us time, comfort, or convenience.

James goes on in verse 19 to remind us that belief alone is not enough. He says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble.” James then points to Abraham and Rahab. When they believed God, they acted on it. Their faith showed up in obedience, even when it was hard. They were not perfect people. They were faithful people. And their faith was made complete by what they did.

That Saturday at the Hope Center did not just fill someone else’s stomach. It changed my heart. Faith works when we stop talking about Jesus and start living like Him. James does not call us to perfection. He calls us to obedience.

So the question James leaves us with is this. If someone looked at your life, would they be able to see your faith at work? Because faith that works is alive. And when our faith comes alive, it has the power to change hearts, starting with our own.