Wow. A few weeks of short little letters from the Bible and then we’ll hit Revelations. I am so excited! I am already thinking in Revelations. Can I just pick the entire book?!? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This week, we get to read the amazing book of James, which I once heard referred to as “The proverbs of the New Testament.” (I wrote that in my Bible, but I have no idea where I got it… It wasn’t from me, that’s for sure.) Cool thing about this book is that some people believe Jesus’s earthly brother wrote it. That sets me off on wondering what it would be like to be the half-brother of the Son of God. There’s a tough one when you go to school, isn’t it? Think he ever heard, “Why can’t you be more like Jesus?” Come to think of it, maybe we all need to aim for that one, huh? Anyway, comment below, if you please, then we’ll hit I Peter next week.
James 4:17 (NIV)–Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
and
James 1:22 (NIV)–Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Okay. Ouch. This one has been thrown at me a couple of times this week from various sources. James hits this concept a few times in a few different ways, which is why I chose two verses. This reminds me of that old saying, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car.” It’s overused maybe, but it’s true.
Too many of us today think we’re good to go if we go to church, here the sermon, and get home in time to watch the NASCAR race on TV. (Or football. If you’re into boredom.) I speak to myself on this one too. Sometimes, we forget there is actual action involved, actual warfare involved, actual people who need us to get up and do something.
I know I can get into the habit of griping and complaining about the state of the world and the junk on TV, but somehow, in all of the complaining, I forget to pray or to take any action. Then I read James and God goes, “Hon, you need to stop running your mouth and start getting those hands in action.”
Again, ouch. Anybody else feeling that sting?
-JB
Dawn Lucowitz says
I thought when we got to this book it was going to be much easier for me to write about. This book is a favorite of one of the most important people in my life, it is also the book another amazing friend is leading a bible study on, as well as the book I have decided to memorize this year. Now, about that last part…I am horrible at memorizing and this year I decided that instead of a physical challenge (that yes, had spiritual components), like p90x and training for a half marathon, I would really work my brain. This may take me a solid 6 month to a year (since again, I’m horrible at memorizing), but what better book to park myself in?
With all that being said it was so difficult to choose a verse. Jodie took one of my favorites, so that will narrow it down by one. I am going to go with verses on the mouth since throughout this entire challenge that is probably where I spent the most time.
James 1:26 – If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
James 3:6 – The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and it is itself set on fire by hell.
James 3:10 – Out of the same mouth came praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
These are not the only powerful verses in the bible about the tongue, but look at the 3 powerful ones in this tiny book alone! How true are each of these. How many of us say one thing and do another? We consider ourselves “good” and “righteous” people, yet we still gossip, speak ill of others, judge (outloud), quarrel, and use words to cut others down. I am not saying these are regular parts of our day, but think about it, when this week, or even today did your tongue praise God and curse? Oh yeah, I’m full of praise in the morning before anything else gets “in the way” of my day. Before I talk to people that may annoy me.
James 3:6 leaves no room for interpretation. Our tongues can be evil. They are being compared to the fires of hell! Think about some of the evil that your tongue has committed. Think about some of the venomous things that have come out of it like a fire. I am so thankful that I can be truly forgiven for these horrible sins I’ve committed. I am thankful for the reminder over and over again throughout the bible to keep a tight reign over my tongue and not to let it be used as evil.
Jodie says
I love what you wrote here. I am being convicted over my tongue big time lately, because I can be really critical sometimes, especially over things I see in the media. One of my 8th graders wrote an essay about Justin Bieber the other day (hang with me here) that actually convicted me about my tongue (fortunately, I had not said anything about Bieber…). She was saying people need to remember that he is a human being, that he is not different just because he is famous. People tease him without really not thinking about whether or not it is Christian and they say things about him that they’d never say if he was a kid in their school. I thought that was a pretty cool way to put it. It definitely made me think about the way I talk about people in the media, that’s for sure.