Many years ago, when I asked Sheila, my wife, to marry me, and she said yes, I began to prepare and make plans for our wedding day, our honeymoon, and our life together. I altered my life to accommodate her becoming my wife and sharing a place with me.

I went out and rented a two-story, two-bedroom townhouse as the place where we would start our married life together.  I saved money for our honeymoon and reserved accommodations for it.

I did all these things even though we had not stood before witnesses and exchanged vows yet.  I did not wait until after the I do to make these preparations because I already believed we would be married just as she and I had promised each other.

She also made preparations. Our faith in each other’s promises moved us into action and preparation.

Faith is not dormant.  It is not lazy.  It is not inactive.

Faith activates, mobilizes, and moves people into action based on what they believe.

Jesus said something profound,

Luke 8:19 Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.”  21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

When the word of God is heard and believed, it moves a person to act on what it is they have believed.

Merely talking about what one believes is not the same as acting on it. Faith opens the door of understanding to the next step. It lights the path of the will of God in the moment. It shines a spotlight on the opportunity and possibility before a person according to God’s desire and the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus spoke of doing what was heard, not just hearing it and agreeing with it because it was too difficult to argue against in the first place.

Dead religion seeks agreement and is happy to hear someone parrot what they say is important. If there are discussions on it and everyone simply agrees, that is enough to satisfy dead religion. But real faith is never satisfied with mere agreement. Real faith has to do something about what is accepted as truth and believed to be right. Real faith will always act on it.

The evidence of faith is always the action that follows it. I believed and had faith that I would be married to Sheila, and it moved me into actions that altered my life. I believed and put my faith in Jesus, and it forever altered who I am and how I live. Faith changes a person from the inside out.  Faith will always provide more than enough evidence to prove it exists by what is done as a result of it.