Faith that Works

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog." Just kidding. He was an Old Testament prophet. He got himself into a lot of trouble with the Jewish authorities for speaking the truth. He knew the truth because he would hear it directly from God's mouth. But when he would proclaim the truth, the rulers would get angry and punish him.

On one occasion they got so mad at him that they plotted to kill him (Jer. 38). So they grabbed him and threw him into a cistern (large containers to collect rain water). This one had no water but it did have mud and Jeremiah sunk into it. The idea was to allow him to starve to death.

But one man was righteous. His name was Ebed-Melech. He feared God and wanted to save God's prophet. So he spoke to the king and got permission to take Jeremiah out of the cistern.

Later on when the Babylonians invaded and ransacked Jerusalem, Ebed-Melech was spared by God. Through Jeremiah God sent this message to Ebed-Melech just prior to the Babylonian invasion:

"Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 17 But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. 18 I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.'"
Jer. 39:16-18 NIV
Notice that God spared his life because he trusted in God. That faith in God led him to rescue God's prophet.
Our faith in God will always be demonstrated by what we do. It is not enough to say we have faith in God, nor to have wonderful feelings about God. Our faith must lead to action in order to be validated as true faith.

18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:18, 26 NIV

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