Compiled By: Lisa K Gonzales
Source: The Life Application Study Bible
1 “Look here, you rich people, weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 3 Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh in hell. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the Day of Judgment. 4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every whim. Now your hearts are nice and fat, ready for the slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed good people who had no power to defend themselves against you.” ~ James 5:1-6
James proclaims the worthlessness of riches, not the worthlessness of the rich. Today’s money will be worthless when Christ returns, so we should spend our time accumulating the kind of treasures that will be worthwhile in GOD’s eternal Kingdom. Money is not the problem; Christian leaders need money to live and to support their families; missionaries need money to help them spread the Good News; churches need money to do their work effectively. It is the love of money that leads to evil and causes some people to oppress others in order to get more. – “For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” – 1 Timothy 6:10 – Greed leads to all kinds of evil; from marriage problems, and robbery, to blowups in partnerships. To master greed, we must control it at its root. Get rid of the desire to be rich. James was giving all Christians who are tempted to adopt worldly standards rather than GOD’s standards, a warning (just as Paul did in 1 Timothy 6:10) – as well as encouragement to all those who are oppressed by the rich.
1 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to GOD. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind HE will accept. When you think of what HE has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let GOD transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what GOD wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect HIS will really is.” – Romans 12:1-2 – GOD wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices – daily laying aside our own desires to follow HIM, putting all our energy and resources at HIS disposal and trusting HIM to guide us. We should do this out of gratitude that our sins have been forgiven. GOD has good, pleasing, and perfect plans for HIS children. HE wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds, living to honor and obey HIM. Because HE wants only the best for us, and because HE gave HIS Son to make our new life possible, we should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifices for HIS service. Paul warns all Christians: “Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world” that are usually selfish and often corrupting. Wise Christians decide that much worldly behavior is off-limits for them. Our refusal to conform to this world’s values, however, must go even deeper than just behavior and customs; it must be firmly planted in our mind: “Let GOD transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” It is possible to avoid most worldly customs and still be proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn, and arrogant. Only when the Holy Spirit renews, reeducates, and redirects our minds are we truly transformed.
Father GOD, thank YOU for YOUR Word that encourages us to stay away from the standards of this world – and thank YOU for YOUR Son – Jesus Christ – who died for our sins in order to give us eternal life with YOU. Help us as we strive to daily lay aside our own desires to follow YOU and put all our energy and resources at YOUR disposal. We trust YOU, LORD to guild us, we know that YOU have good, pleasing and perfect plans for us – YOUR children. Renew our minds and transform us into people who are living only to honor and obey YOU, Father GOD. We ask that YOUR Holy Spirit renew, reeducate, and redirect our minds – only then will we truly be transformed.
Photo: Cumberland Falls State Resort Park (Kentucky)
Photo By: Lisa K Gonzales
Click on the photo to enlarge
