Two oars are used to row a boat. Both are needed to go in a determined direction. With just one, it goes in circles or drifts off course, and you get nowhere, or end up somewhere you never intended to go. Or you work twice as hard as you need to, by switching the oar back and forth.
James 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2:20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Right between these verses is the declaration:
James 2:21, 22 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
The key word here is “WHEN” in Verse 21.
We can’t sit in our tent or home and wait for all the answers before venturing out. If Abraham had waited in his tent until he had all the answers, he wouldn’t have been obedient to what God had told him to do. He got up early and gathered the wood and set out do what God told him to do. See Genesis 22:1-19 for reference.
We won’t always be able to see around all the corners or into the future. But God knows all and when He says go here or there, or speak to that person, all we must do is obey. A balance between faith and action brings us closer to perfection, or completion. We need to know what God is telling us by reading His word and knowing what it says, then we can recognize His voice. When God tells you to do something, He will give you everything you need to do it. Trust Him completely.
