James, the brother of Jesus, wrote to Christians telling them that faith wasn’t enough. In fact, faith without works is dead. James repeatedly warns them to be active in works, helping those who are in need: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror” (James 1:22, 23 ESV).
That man looks away and forgets what he was like, according to James. James goes on to say, “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (vs. 25). James is clear that God blesses the one who is a “doer.” The word for doer means someone who makes or produces things–someone who is productive! Put another way, the productive one will be blessed in his production.
When we make the conscious decision to be a “doer” for God, He blessed the doing. He makes us more productive when we faithfully work to help others. Just two verses later James says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (vs. 27). Remember, God blesses the doing of the doer!
