"What good is it?" James' Q about faith begs a question that every new believer asks and every church person shrinks from. Litereally, the question is "what profit is in faith" or "how will my life 'increase for the better' if I live a life of faith"? So, unless I can point to places in my week that my faith has been useful or has resulted in a more efficient use of my time\talents\money, it would seem easy to regularly say,"I don't have time to..." whenever I consider any of Jesus' commands or any religious practice.

Isn't this the conundrum of most faith teaching - its practicality? What kind of list would I have if I listed the times I used my faith in the past week?

Jesus' query about this is at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, when he closes the Beatitides with, "you are the salt of the earth, but what good is the salt if it has lost its savor (potence?)? It is good for nothing other than throwing out into the road and being trod under the feet of men." No question about it - if we live with no application of Christ's teachings, we will end our days with a body that is "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" and a life that is swallowed up by the commerce that will go on without us.

What is the solution? How can we live lives of faith that apply to our days? Only through disciplinary application of the same practices Jesus used, daily investing as He did and doing so until habits form that make these priorities our own - looking forward to a life and legacy that seeks more than earthly\temporary gain, but invests in the people and relationships He has given us (Gal. 5:22-23 becomes a description of our qualities) and what outlasts us.

James 2:14