The Tractor

James 2:20:  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

I am presently with the ministry, Louisiana Teen Challenge. I would like to share with you a lesson I learned some time ago working with the ministry.  My wife and I were in the early stages of pioneering a new facility in northern Louisiana which would eventually help men that are struggling with life-controlling issues. The property had some acreage and I was a city boy that was so looking forward to farming the land so we would have work for the students (men in the program) and hopefully bring in some income as well. The tractor at the ministry was over 40 years old and not dependable at all, so we really needed an upgrade. The ministry was not in a position to buy a new tractor.  So, we began to pray and that’s when it was obvious that we needed to work as well.  You see, that faith without works is dead. So we began calling churches and close friends of the ministry to ask if they would make a donation towards the purchase of a new tractor. After about a week of phone calls, we raised about $6,000 but, we had a problem, a new tractor was going to cost about $20,000!

If I can be totally honest with you, I was a little discouraged because we needed another $14,000 before we could buy a tractor like we needed. A couple more days went by and we convinced ourselves that we would call around and see what payments would be if we put $6,000 down but we really could not afford the payments.

We were reminded of an acquaintance that we had met in New Orleans and a friend of the ministry.  We had heard he went to work for a John Deere dealership in south Texas. We had called a few dealerships getting prices and knowing he was a friend of the ministry we felt like he would give us a fair price. I called him and asked him what the payments would be on a particular tractor which retailed for $22,000.  He said, “Give me an hour and I will call you back.”

He called us back in about 30 minutes and said dealer cost on that tractor is $18,900 and if you put $6,000 down your payments will be “$0” …  he was donating the balance!! I was blown away at the generosity and faithfulness of God and it was that day God showed me that faith without works is dead. I really believe that if some effort, some work had not been put toward getting this tractor that if I would have called around with no money this miracle would not have happened.

The word tells us in the next two verses in James:  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 

Let me encourage you to work towards what you need (physically, financially, or spiritually) and while having faith, God will come through and you will get your miracle.

And remember faith without works is dead.