Faceless Faith

“For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so – not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer – he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:23-25

I’m constantly amazed how easily I can be distracted. I can’t tell you how many times a day I look at my watch only to look away and realize I still don’t know the time. The reason for this is that I am not focusing on retaining the information. I wear my watch for information but sometimes the distractions around me take my mind hostage. Watches can be helpful for navigating us through our day keeping us mindful of obligations and guiding us to the next event. But watches can also be nothing more than a shiny trinket… an adornment we wear as we walk out our day…a watch that might as well be faceless.

Sometimes our faith is the same way. We wear our faith as beautiful trinkets but never intently focus on the guidance it can provide. We talk about being still and yet we continuously keep moving at a dizzying pace. We ask God where He is when we are the ones who have been missing. We sing the anthems of God out of one side of our mouths but gossip and slander someone out of the other side. We have different spiritual watches to wear based upon the details of our circumstances or with whom we are going to visit. We possess a Bible but never open it up to receive the life-giving words of God. We might as well wear faceless watches…walking around with faceless faith.

We don’t have to live without the knowledge we need to guide us through our seasons. God’s word has given each of us everything required to not just live, but to live victoriously and abundantly on this earth. The secret is being intentional and focused on what God is telling us through prayer, reading His Word and having an intimate relationship with Him. It takes focus, dedication and obedience to have faith with a face. We can’t successfully live out this life we have been given without being active doers of the Word. We will be blessed in everything we do when we can tell time…faith time.