James 5

OK so clearly this first passage is rough. If you have heard either Craig Groeschel or Andy Stanley talk about "How to Be Rich" then you know that we are all rich. If you are reading this, you have a computer with internet access so you are most likely in the top 1-2% in the world in wealth. So I have to read this as straight to me, not Donald Trump. Brannon and I were recently convicted by a quote, probably Francis Chan, who said, "I don't want to keep 'saving for emergencies.' There already is an emergency. Almost 30,000 people a day are dying from the effects of poverty and a huge majority of them will end up in hell." That's really sobering. And the Bible tells us to stay sober and alert. we can no longer numb ourselves from caring by insulating ourselves with our comforts.

The second passage isn't much better. Patience is hard enough, but being reminded about grumbling while waiting raises the bar yet again. Although I'm at a place where it seems like many of the things God has forced me to be patient for are starting to come to pass, that only leads to a new place of patience. Nothing happens overnight. James' farmer illustration is a good reminder of that.

The last section is just like a sawed-off shotgun blast of wisdom. So much to take hold of and live out. The one that sticks out to me the most is that he bring up Elijah again, who I just wrote about a while back. Yes, he prayed to stop and start the rains, but if you go back to 1 Kings, there was so much struggle and faith and waiting in the space between.

I want to do what's right in the space between. I want to have faith. I want to have patience. I want to wait without grumbling. I want to slough off the tarnished gold chains of my riches. I want to live in a way that makes this chapter remind people of me. Which would in turn, point them to Jesus.