Do you have faith in God but never do any of His work? Do you serve as the hands and feet of God on earth? There are a number of great examples in the Bible of why merely declaring that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior is not enough. That is the first step but you must do the work as well. Look at the story of Noah in the Old Testament. God told Noah, "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood, put various compartments in it, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall build it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make an opening for daylight in the ark, and finish the ark a cubit above it. Put an entrance in the side of the ark, which you shall make with bottom, second and third decks." At that point Noah had a choice. He had declared his allegiance to God. He was, in fact, leading the life that God asked of all of the people in the Old Testament. Noah was a good person, a Godly man. He had tremendous faith. So when the Lord came to him and told him to build an arc, what did he do? He put his faith into action. He did the work that accompanied his faith. He built the ark for his family and the animals. He was faithful to the word of God and did the work as well. Mary, the mother of God, is another example of putting the work and the faith together. She was a teenager, living with her parents and betrothed to a wonderful man, Joseph. He was a carpenter and so very capable of providing a good living for Mary. She loved God and had faith. We know that she was a good Jew. When God came to her and asked her to be the earthen vessel for the Savior, she could have said many things. She could have told God that she loved Him very much but that she was only a teenager. She could have run from the situation. She said yes to God. She carried Jesus in her womb. She provided the human support so that God could come and dwell among us as man. She had faith and she did the work. It is what God calls us to do. As we enter the last part of the Lenten season, try to focus on doing the work of God on earth. Find your purpose and fulfill it. Be an example of God's grace and His goodness. Show others that you are truly an earthen vessel for God and allow Him to work through you. Faith without works is empty. Fill the vessel.
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...
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