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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of Him to whom you belong?”

James 2:5-7

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Through the ages, it seems there has always been social inequity within society. The eras may come and go. Cultures can differ one from the other. But no matter the time period or the locale of any one community gathering of people, there always seems to be division along economic lines. You can almost be guaranteed to find those who have and those who don’t, the wealthy and the poor. And with the financial disparity also comes an imbalance of power. In fact, money ends up equaling power when we look at wealth from a worldly, material perspective. The rich always have an advantage over the poor because they have more income to afford the better things, things like homes and cars and the perks of being prosperous. They also can lord over others through the threat of legal action, well able to afford legal representation than someone in poverty. In fact, often times the disadvantaged find themselves disenfranchised and even exploited by the affluent who know how to wield their monetary might to gain advantage.

As we look at our passage for today and our continued study of James, chapter 2, we see God’s word address this matter as it obviously was occurring in first century A.D. Look again at those words here:

“Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of Him to whom you belong?” James 2:5-7

Note here that the Lord despises anyone who dishonors the poor. Going back to Jesus’ words from His ministry teaching, we remember Him saying that when we care for those considered the least in society, it’s as if we are caring for Him. Through His own words, we are to see how social equity is a cause close to our Savior’s heart. After all, He didn’t just come to save the rich. Rather, Jesus came for everyone and there was no economic requirement, no income thresholds that would qualify or disqualify someone for salvation. Through Himself and His redeeming work on Calvary’s heart, Jesus opened the doors of heaven and the opportunity for eternal life for all.

Unfortunately, the world’s ways are counter to the expectations of Jesus. The world’s ways encourage people to excel and rise up in status over others. The world’s ways celebrate inequity, honoring the wealthy and urging those who have to gain more while doing little to nothing to help a person in poverty out of their bad situation. Consequently, we find this saying play out in truth:

“The rich get rich and the poor get poorer.”

But what if the world has it all wrong? What if true wealth has absolutely no monetary component to it but rather a fully spiritual one? What if a person could be the richest person by worldly standards and yet be in abject poverty spiritually? What if Satan is exploiting and deceiving the wealthy to think they are really on top when they are actually at the bottom? Or as Jesus asked:

“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Matthew 16:26

In the end translation, God’s word wants us to know that the people who carry the most value are the ones who become poor in the eyes of the world, choosing instead to store up riches in heaven so that they might “be rich in faith” and “inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him.”

So where do you stand today?

Are you rich by the world’s standards and in spiritual poverty because you give no credence to investing in and accumulating treasures in heaven through living for Christ Jesus?

Or are you living in great spiritual affluency, giving no attention to the things of the world because you understand that true wealth in life comes from knowing that the world offers you no gain when compared to the riches you have in your Savior?

My prayer is that you identify with the latter but if not, today is the day you can choose to change, forfeiting the ways of the world and the false sense of prestige and prosperity it promotes to instead accept the vast and inexhaustible riches only found in Jesus Christ, riches that not only sustain in the present but for an everlasting future.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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