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I’ve been working on refinishing an old farm table this week. And let me tell you—my back is killing me, and my hands are sore! But even though it’s been hard work, it’s been worth every bit of the pain. Instead of getting rid of the table, we decided to move it downstairs where it’ll either become a craft table or an oversized office desk. I’m leaning toward the desk idea, but that could change.

We’ve had this table for about ten years, and honestly, I’ve never been that crazy about it. With its dark varnish and heavy gloss, it just didn’t fit my style. But this week, things shifted when I started stripping away that old finish and discovered the rich oak underneath. It was beautiful.

After pointing it out to Michael, he warned me, “We might be dealing with veneer. Sand it too much, and you’ll go right through it.”

But when we pulled the table apart, I found that it wasn’t veneer at all. It was solid oak, through and through. Strong, sturdy, and beautiful.

As I thought about that, I was reminded of how genuine faith is a lot like that table. When you start peeling back the layers, you find that true faith is solid, authentic, and strong. It’s not about appearances. It’s about what’s underneath. It’s the depth of our character that proves the sincerity of our heart and our devotion to God.

James talks about this very thing in chapter 2, where he shows us the difference between surface-level faith and genuine, authentic faith. He gives us an example from Genesis 22, where Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar. I love how the King James Version puts it in James 2:21:

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?”

The word “justified” means that we are seen as righteous in the eyes of God. As Christians, we’re righteous—not because of what we’ve done—but because of our faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross. If you think about the thief on the cross, he was justified by faith the moment he acknowledged Jesus as Lord and asked to be remembered in His kingdom. It wasn’t his deeds, but his faith that made him righteous before God in that instant.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

We talked earlier this week about how Paul’s writings and James’ teachings connect. While it might seem like there’s a contradiction between Paul’s focus on faith and James’ emphasis on works, the truth is, they complement each other. Paul is speaking to the root of our salvation—our faith in Christ alone—while James is showing us the fruit of that faith. Paul tells us how we are saved, and James shows us what that salvation looks like in action.

Abraham wasn’t justified because of his works, but his willingness to offer Isaac was a reflection of his deep trust in God. His faith was ‘made complete’ by his obedience. And in the same way, our actions are the evidence of our faith. They show whether our faith is genuine or just words. Faith and works go hand in hand—one reveals the truth of the other.

As James 2:22 puts it, “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”

This Week’s Printable

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