Daily Devotion July 24

July 24: James 2:1-13

KJV Key Verse: James 2:10
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Devotion:
How do you look at the Ten Commandments? Do you look at them as guidelines, as rules cast in stone or as something else? I know we all have different ways of looking at the original commandments given to Moses by God, but how does that change the way you look at God’s Word? Why all the difficult questions?

When we do question our own faith we also need to dig a bit deeper and question our walk with Christ. James first talks here about the way we treat others because of the way we see them, how much they earn, their stature in society and many other outward appearances. We really do judge people because of how we see them! I was raised by parents and people who taught me to love and respect others and not to look at their outward appearance. That was hard because I was surrounded by many people who were racist, sexist and who had many other hang-ups. I too had my hang-ups which I had to work through myself.

God has chosen each of us to be the people we are on the inside and not to be imitators of other people in high stature within society. God wants us to be imitators of Christ the man who went out of His way to help the poor, heal the sick and befriend the sinners. If we do not obey the simple commandment Jesus Christ gave us to love our neighbours then we may as well ignore every rule God has given us from the beginning. We are reminded by James that each commandment, whether big or small in our own eyes, carries equal weight in God’s eyes.

The example James uses may seem extreme, but it puts the point home. If we choose to follow every other commandment we are given and yet go out and willingly kill someone, then we are guilty. Yes, even society will agree with us on that one! But the same has to be said about the commandments we think the least of. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbour. If we ignore that commandment we are as guilty as the murderer! Take time to think about what God is asking of you…

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you follow God’s laws?

Are you living them too?