Skip to main content

James 5:1 - Come now - absolute imperative that the reader pay attention to what James is saying. Day 133

 James 5:1 - Come now - absolute imperative that the reader pay attention to what James is saying. Hello again my friends,

James is often call "the proverbs of the New Testament".  Men's group discussed Proverbs 5:1-8 and 10:10-32 this past Saturday.  We tend to see proverbs as short, pithy statements of how to live a better life.  But as long as we view them as external rules to impose on ourselves, we go astray.  When God writes the law (and proverbs) on our hearts, they become internal means for the Spirit to guide us.  

If you find yourself feeling bound by and to external requirements so as to escape punishment, I encourage you to turn to the Lord so that the veil on your heart may be removed.  Please leave a comment or contact Jonathan via the church website so that he or I can point the way to the narrow gate.

Blessings

Jeff

It would be nice if James was warning society in general about the miseries coming due to wealth.  But this letter is to "the twelve tribes in the Dispersion" (1:1).  So James, the brother of Jesus, was aware of this problem within at least Jewish converts.  And it was not just "income inequality" but active fraud by holding back the wages of workers.  Just thinking about a church where the well to do members were defrauding other people in the church who worked for them.   So James does not have the Bill Gates of the ancient world in mind.  the church is to be a witness to the world of how people are to treat each other.  This is to be an example of  "I will show you my faith by my works".  Also goes back to "show no partiality".

And this in a world where "luxury and self-indulgence" is hard for me to really understand in comparison to our world.  How would James describe my lifestyle?  

Another indication that this is written to believers is the type of misery.  "rotted riches and moth eaten garments" is not temporal judgment by civil authorities.  This is a warning that God will judge them at the last day.  The rich person in the church may avoid temporal losses, but not divine justice.

Instruction - What does God expect of me? - Marked contrast between economics and relationships in the church and economics and relationships in the world.  This is not easy. But it is necessary.  This is not class warfare advocated by secular social justice activists of our day.  The life in the Spirit is always in stark contrast to life in the law.

Thanksgiving - Making faith practical but always based on principle.  The new covenant written on tablets of human hearts and not stone.

Confession - Allowing the "God is a cosmic killjoy" concept to go unchallenged in the minds of unbelievers.

Petition - My life and the lives of fellow believers would demonstrate that the fruit of the Spirit cannot be produced by the effort of the flesh.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more