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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.”
James 1:9-11
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Study the scriptures enough and you will learn something very quickly.
The ways of the Lord are very different from the ways of the world.
It’s true, right?
Over and over and over again, the Bible presents us with words of guidance and direction that are in complete opposition to what the world would advise. Today, we find one such instance in our three verses from the first chapter of James epistle. Look again at these words here:
“Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.” James 1:9-11
From a worldly perspective the wealthy are seen as being in the more favorable position, especially when compared to the poor, the ones referred to in this passage as being “believers in humble circumstances”. It’s completely counterintuitive to the world that someone poor could actually be wealthier than the rich.
But as we see in verse 9, the poor should consider their position as one of prominence, so much so that they should be proud of it.
Huh?
How can that be possible? How can being poor actually be a good thing?
The answer comes in the way of spiritual dependence.
For a poor person needs to place their full faith and trust in the Lord, the One who can help them in ways they cannot help themselves. They don’t face the danger of having so much that their focus is fully on their money and/or possessions and this allows them to see that all the riches they could ever ask for are found in their Lord.
But what about the opposite side of the spectrum? What about those who are rich, those who have everything they could ever ask for or need?
Often times, humbling comes in other ways for the wealthy. There’s been more than a few stories about people who seemingly had it all but then lost their riches because of certain life events. Such losses can be humiliating and even embarrassing as a person sees their worldly status reduce. No one on earth would say that this is a good thing but keep in mind but the Bible sees it differently. For the rich person should actually take pride in their humbling circumstances because they will have to learn now to rely more on their Lord than themselves or the riches they had acquired.
In both cases, whether the poor giving thanks for their poverty or the rich grateful for their humbling, we see how the scriptures show us that the humble hold a lofty position in the sight of the Lord. And through the wisdom of God’s word, a wisdom that is counter to the world’s intellect, we find that there’s extreme value found in humility.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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