Call of the Wild: a Journey Through the Book of JamesSample

Leave No Trace

The Leave No Trace ethics are a set of seven guidelines that were created in order to minimize the impact made by visitors on public lands. Things like staying on designated trails, minimizing campfires, and disposing waste properly help preserve the splendor of our wild places. If visitors adhere to these principles while visiting public lands, their presence will go unnoticed for generations.

This is the exact opposite of what it looks like when God enters your life; His impact is undeniable.

The gift of salvation radically transforms your life, moving you from darkness to light and freeing you from the grip of sin. Receiving that free gift changes your standing in heaven and solidifies your eternal relationship with God all in one moment. Not by anything that you do, but all because of what Jesus did for you. 

However, salvation is not the end, but actually the beginning of what God wants to do in your life. James tells us that our lives aren’t meant to simply be full of religious ideas, but rather, full of passionate action. If God takes up residence in your heart, things will begin to look different.

God’s grace doesn’t compel us into a cavalier lifestyle where we flirt with sin because ‘God paid our bill.’ James rejects that idea wholeheartedly and tells us that fruitless faith is an oxymoron. God’s grace in our life compels us to love God and love those around us.

The reality is that the process of bearing fruit is a journey. Salvation happens in an instant, but living with Godliness takes a lifetime. We won’t do it perfectly, it won’t happen overnight, but eventually, we will look back on our lives and see growth.

If we choose to believe in God and hang our faith on who He says He is, lasting change will come if we don’t give up.