The Devotional - JAS002

The Devotional

Comment:

How much value is found in the Living Word of God? From the testimony of all of the writers in the Old and New Testaments the value of the Word of God is far above all of the riches contained in the universe including this earth we call home. The value is not measurable, but by faith one can learn to understand as found in Proverbs 8:8-11. “All the words of my mouth are with “righteousness;” nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction and not “silver”, and knowledge rather than “gold;” for “wisdom” is better than “rubies” and all the things one may desire cannot compare with her.” Every distraction from this “Truth” is from the counterfeit kingdom of Satan.

Challenge: James 1:7-11

The rich and the poor have this in common, the LORD is the maker of them all, Proverbs 22:2. Now if one would consider these words in Proverbs they might just connect these with the words found in the epistle of James, our passage this morning. Yet in connecting, we might like to back up a bit and see another similar connection, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor (grace) rather than silver or gold.”

Remember, the apostle James is speaking to the disbursed Jewish believers; these are Jews who have agreed with the death and resurrection of Jesus their Messiah. They are “born again” Jews who; like the saved Gentile raise families, go to work and prosper, or who for whatever reason are not working and are poor. Maintaining a good name is seldom effective if the rich or the poor are double minded about his or her status in life.

Thus the apostle James seeks to put the rich and the poor on the same platform, the platform found in Proverbs 22:1-2. The LORD in His Word which exceeds all of the riches known to man places the poor believer and the rich believer on the same platform. The poor can glory or acknowledge in his or her position in Christ and the rich can glory or acknowledge his or her position in Christ, both positions are of equal value. The choice to be like minded brothers and sisters of Christ far exceed the temporal value associated with our earthly positions in time.

Time will turn all that we have “materially” into decay, the poor man will have decay as will the rich man, and in this both have all things common. For no sooner has the sun risen on the field of living that it will scorch and destroy the flower of the field and it will pass away, the grass withers the flower fails and the beautiful appearance of the rich returns equal to that of the poor. While all that we have is temporal, we still retain a position in Christ that is equal and will not fade away, this for me is far more precious than any gold or silver as I hope it is for you as well.