James 1:21 New Living Translation
“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and
humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to
save your souls.”
James, the brother of Jesus, wrote this
letter to the Jewish believers who were scattered throughout the Mediterranean
world at that time. Persecution had
caused these believers to fall into an intellectual rather than an actual
faith, for true faith will produce loving actions towards others. Intellectual
faith is kept to yourself inside. James
was concerned that they would become a shadow of what they once were due to the
pressures of those surrounding them. He
wanted them to understand afresh and anew what true faith really is so they do
not cheapen God’s grace by living in hypocrisy.
The world believes Christians today are
nothing more than hypocrites. Are
we? Do we simply put on a show of our
faith without truly living it out? It’s
fairly easy for outsiders to see when a believer is just going thru the
motions. However, non-believers only
accept what they can see and that is our ‘do what I say, not what I do’
mentally. Every believers isn’t guilty
of this of course, but many are. The
remedy is to sell out to the idea of imitating Christ in all we think, say and
do. A ‘what would Jesus do’
mentality. If we continue to fill our
lives with the filth and evil of this world we become no different than those
we are meant to save. Our life raft
becomes filled with holes and we begin to sink rather than offer a safe, dry
way of escaping the evil of this world.
The ways of God are in direct opposition
to those of the world. We cannot relate
to them, but we may end up identifying with them if we aren’t careful. Keep your focus on the Lord and not on that
which surrounds you. Stay humble and dig
into God’s word so as to bolster your spirit man. For a day is coming when you may be asked to
stand up for your faith and if you cannot stand up under the heat of
persecution where will that leave you?
Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.
Resource: The Life Application Study
Bible, published by Tyndale House.
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