-James 1:9-11 (NLT)
"They will fade away like a little flower in the field...."
Life is short...we don't want to believe it but it is true. As I sit here typing these words at this computer the clock is ticking away...one second at a time. Everyday is a gift, a gift God has given you. Don't let your life slip right past you. One of my favorite song writers puts it this way...
"I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow. A wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind. Still you hear me when I'm calling, Lord you catch me when I'm falling and you've told me who I am, I am yours."
-"Who am I" by Casting Crowns
God is calling you to wake up and be alive, alive in Him and for Him! In America we have it so nice...so easy. I don't know about you but when I read these verses it is a serious wake up call for me. "In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements" I don't want to fade away with all of my achievements...all my "stuff".
The "American dream" is all about getting everything you want and grabbing all the stuff you can.
The "American dream" is all about selfishness.
The "American dream" is all about....achievements.
From the next promotion to the newest car, when you boil it down it is all about "climbing up the ladder of achievement".
I am not writing this to bash my country or point the finger at anyone. I am writing this in hopes that it will awaken the sleeping and open the eyes of the blind.
Below are a few verses from the fifth chapter of James that really make me think.
"Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. 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 those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the LORD of Heaven's Armies. You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you."
-James 5:1-6 (NLT)We live in a world where extra food rots away in our fridges....while children are starving on the streets.
We live in a world where our closets are full of clothes we haven't worn in years...while there are people who have been in need of clothes for years.
We live in a world where we get upset if we don't get our starbucks in the morning...while there are others who are thankful just to live to see the morning.
How much longer are we going to just sit here and do nothing to help those who are in need?
What is it going to take for us all to open our eyes to those around us?
When will we learn to share?
My prayer is this...that we will wake up and "hear the cries of the field workers whom we have cheated of their pay".
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left."Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
-Matthew 25:31-36
So my friend, what side are you choosing to be on?
The left...or the right?
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