Saturday, June 1, 2024
James 1:27
27 Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted
from the world.
Being
a Christian in this current moral and political climate
is challenging. It doesn’t seem to take much effort to rise above the general
muck around us which means that we seldom rise to the heights we should. The
“dumbing down” of religion has made casual Christians appear to be
glow-in-the-dark saints. The only thing that seems to set us apart is our
T-shirts.
James
boils it all down for us when he focuses on what is clean and unsoiled
before God. Never mind what others think! What does God think about my
particular brand of Christianity? The key elements seem to be a
practical application of goodness. The word “visit” simply means
“to go see and to relieve” widows in their affliction. This gets God’s
attention.
The
second element requires herculean effort! We
are to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. This is as challenging as a
white bunny in a mud wrestling arena! By “the world” James means “society
without God.” But how does an average believer keep himself clean?
There
must be a steady relationship to God’s Word.
“Wherewithal (or how) shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto
according to thy word.” (Ps 119:9)
In the front flyleaf of my Bible is scrawled these words: “This book will keep
you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.”
There
must also be an intentional association with God’s people
at church. The reason that racial and ethnic integration fails is that similar
people prefer to be together. To put it another way, “Birds of a feather flock
together.” That’s why larger cities have a “China Town” or a “Little Italy.”
Christians have churches!
1 Cor 15:33
33 Be not
deceived: evil communications (companions) corrupt good manners (morals).
Without
practical benevolence and personal moral purity, a professing
believer has no well-founded evidence
that he is a Christian.
Dear
Lord, fill my heart with your compassion and let me act upon it. Help me to
keep myself clean in an impure world. AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment