A Call to Action

By: Keefe Wilson

Friday, June 12, 2026

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

I was working late in the emergency room at Kadena AFB one evening when we received an urgent call: an ambulance was needed because a car had crashed into a brick wall. We instantly grabbed our gear and rushed to the scene with lights flashing and sirens blaring. When we arrived, we saw the impact had thrown a teenage boy through the windshield and slammed his head on the wall. He was critically injured and in severe pain.

We raced back to the hospital and started treating him immediately. We knew he'd suffered a head injury, so we were working nonstop. We administered oxygen, checked his vital signs, started IVs, and we were praying for the Lord to save his life. No one hesitated or ignored that call to action because we understood that every second mattered!

God calls Christ followers into spiritual action daily—to pray, to serve, to encourage others, and to share our faith. There is no room for hesitation, complacency, or excuses when God calls, because every second matters. Someone’s spiritual destination may depend on how obedient we are to God's call to action.

Our opening verse, James 1:22, gives us a very powerful warning: don’t just hear the Word—do what it says! It encourages action, not stagnation. Why? Because if we're not careful, our Christianity can become a habit. We hear a weekly sermon and read our devotionals, we highlight verses in our Bibles and say “Amen” in church, but we aren't allowing the Word to penetrate our hearts. Worst of all, God's call doesn't really move us into action. That's why James is telling us that hearing without obedience is deception. God doesn't want us to be deceived, and He doesn't want us to deceive ourselves with complacency.

Our world doesn't need Christians who are only willing to talk about faith. It needs solid believers who are living it out daily—believers that are filled with courage, integrity, compassion, and conviction. Our faith isn't proven by what we say, it's proven by what we do.

God doesn't want spectators, He wants participants. To "get in the game" we must forgive quickly, serve willingly, pray urgently, and be able to share the Gospel with anyone. He wants our action—not our excuses. Hearing God’s Word is important, but it's much more important to live it out.

Keep standing on God's truth and refuse to be spiritually complacent. Our obedience to God's call may help change someone's life, and it might even help them secure their eternal destination!