For many folks the 8 weeks between Oct. 31 and Dec. 25 is a bliss of events, indulgences and expenditures that really don’t add up until after Christmas morning. That one week before the New Year starts, Dec. 26 to Dec. 31, when we add up our Christmas bills and count our Thanksgiving pounds, is the perfect time to slow down and reflect on just what you have done this past year and start assessing what you will do different or better next year.

Ideas such as saving more money, losing more weight, spending more time with family and friends, spending less time working so hard are all a great practice in thought, but it’s only in taking action that we can see results.

It’s only in the execution of our plans, taking action on these ideas, that we can see potential results. Seeing the need and coming up with a plan are only half of the equation. Taking action and staying committed to plan make up the other half.

As you and I ponder the many things we will do different or change or begin doing in the coming year, maybe one of those things we should look at is our faith.

A brief part of the second chapter of the Book of James addresses the need for faith in action. Verses 14-17 state the following:

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Christ is deserving of our faith and in turn He is faithful to us. But Christ doesn’t just sit back wishing the best for us and saying, “I’m looking out for you,” He takes action. He demonstrates His love, His grace, His mercy through His involvement and action in our lives. On Earth, He not only preached healing, He healed. He didn’t’ just teach, He lived out what he taught. He didn’t explain that He was the way to salvation, He sacrificed Himself to give us salvation.

With this model in mind, faith or faithfulness put into action, I am of the belief that maybe people of faith don’t always need more faith; maybe people of faith need more action on their faith.

I don’t need more ideas on how to lose weight, I need to take more action toward losing weight.

As you ask and seek to increase your faithfulness this coming year, make sure you are also taking the time to act on that faith. Be blessed and be a blessing to others in the year to come.

Rev. Barry Vassar can be reached at fitzgeraldmemorial@gmail.com.