a commentary on James 1:12-18
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)
Everyday in life we are tempted to stray away from God’s path. We are tempted to seek carnal pleasures over spiritual ones. Perhaps we’d rather tremble in insecurity than to trust and rest in God. Perhaps we’d rather bury our talents or buy fancy things than use our gifts to help others. Perhaps we’d rather be selfish with our own love and not give it away unless we first deem someone to be worthy of receiving it and, paying it back. Maybe we are just prideful and want to be heard more than we’re willing to listen.
There’s an infinite number of ways for us to seek out the darkness from within rather than to live in the light of God’s plan for us. Jesus spoke of this inner darkness when he said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Matthew 15:19 ESV)
Paul spoke of this darkness when he said, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15 ESV)
We are born as flesh into a fallen word. We love the darkness because we are raised in darkness. We might even go to great lengths just to avoid the light so we can stay longer in the darkness. This is taught plainly in John’s gospel, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.(John 3:19-21 ESV)
Many times we don’t even realize the sin and darkness we willingly live in. It’s as though we are born as lepers in a leper colony. The decay in our lives is so common in our culture that it has been accepted by us as normal for everyone. But God is the “Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James1:16) God is the source of our healing light. God is the source of, “Every good gift and every perfect gift.” (James 1:16) God is the healer amongst us lepers. God calls us in his scripture to believe in his Son. To love his son. To leave our darkness behind and follow his Son (whoever follows me will not walk in darkness). In doing so, God give us a new life in a clean body. God gives us a new skin clean of the leprosy and sin and leads us out of the colony into a better life.
Why? To be “firstfruits”. That is, to be a living body of God’s mercy. We who strive to accept God’s love are the first harvest of God’s great crop. We are those who are set free from the darkness we were raised in; those who yearn to be taught by God to walk in light and truth.
Once you have begun your walk in God’s plan, your life will noticeably change. You will become a worker of good deeds with courage and compassion instead of being in fear of disease, hidden in darkness. You will become a person who takes their insecurities to God in prayer and lays them at His feet instead of chaining them to your own.
You will become a person with a new conscience (the Holy Spirit) who will convict you and spur you on to help you and teach you how to heal the weak and carry the poor.
That is our ministry; to be a living faith through our actions that Jesus is present in our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment