“James”
(Please read the passage before, or after, reading the devotion.)
James can be brutally honest when he writes, but he does so just as Jesus did – in love. He moves to another delicate area where the follower of Christ needs to grow in maturity: in the way we relate to our possessions. He warns us that the more possessions we have, the more does the desire to own more creep into our lives. And it happens in four ways – we are tempted to hoard (vs.2-3), to be unjust and defraud the vulnerable (v.4), to indulge ourselves (v.5), to even betray those without fault only because they did not pander to our desires. Ultimately he is reinforcing what Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Maturity shows in what or who I choose to be my real treasure: what I possess…or the God who loves me and treasures me.
Lord, it is so easy to be owned by my possessions, instead of it being the other way around. I justify it by calling it being worldly-wise, or financially savvy, or securing my future. But all it does is take my focus off You (the Giver) and direct it on to the possessions You give (the gifts). And without my realizing it I stop being generous, because all I am looking out for is myself. Possessions and wealth can be so blinding – but You warned me, haven’t You Jesus? Forgive me. I once again turn my eyes on You…Amen.
