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Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:16-27)
May this be a wonderful day for you, dear Friend! I thank you for your prayers for Ms. Eva Pennington, whose surgery went well without any hitches; thank the Lord! Pray as she recovers that God may ease her pain and discomfort.
My daughters, and I suppose me as well, grew up on Fraggle Rock. I would put the show on for them and I would watch along with them. I thought of the show and the characters as I read this passage for I thought of the Doozers as Doers. I reviewed what Wikipedia said about the show and what the show had in it. For one thing, the main creatures in the show were Fraggles. They enjoyed a 30-minute work week. They sought wisdom from a trash heap, and they considered humans, who are from the "outside world" as the "silly creatures." Along with the Fraggles were a closely-related species called the Doozers, who spent all of their time building. They built candy-like structures which the Fraggles would come along and eat. The Doozers did not mind for they would say that "architecture was meant to be enjoyed!" Well, I can think of some creatures here in the real world who seek to consider what they do in church for one hour (usually, some zone out after 30 minutes) work! And they leave content that they have punched out or checked the box that said "Church." And on they go with their lives. Some may actually even seek wisdom from "trash heaps," such as,. dare I say it, FaceBook, Netflix, novels, movies, musics; things that may only reinforce limited world views and certainly not God's views on life. And all while eating candy or things that are candy-like. The writer of this passage is offering a challenge to the comfortable and content: Go beyond what you usually do, to do the things of God!
Notice the beginning of the passage talks about generous giving being from God. God gives to us what we need, and from that we should give/serve those in need. After all, God's greatest gift was the gift of His Son, Jesus, who in turn gave us the example of a life well-lived; that of serving God and taking care of one another. We are, after all, "First fruits of His creatures." And all while trying not be angry about things. ("God doesn't know what kind of day I had yesterday!" My own quote, while admitting, "Yes God does because God was right there with me; and over all, we took care of business! Well, God did. I just gritted my teeth and stayed calm when I wanted to scream angry, Fraggle Rock type words!")
God was with me, as God was with you. We should, as the writer says, "be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger." Anger does not look good on us, and any God-like qualities we may have get quickly erased and blurred with our angry stares and words. And the writer inspired by the Lord tells us to rid our lives of the ugliness and dirty, all the while seeking to receive the word of God which should be deeply implanted and growing within us to be the people God called and made us to be. We are to be DOERS, and not just hearers. What we hear on Sunday should be the basis of motivation for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; and especially Sunday again! Repeat. Our actions should be those recorded by God in Heaven so that our day before Him will result on those words we all want to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" What do you think you will hear is you're just a hearer? "Well, you didn't even try! Bye-Bye!"
God knows you and I can do better. We should present ourselves before the Lord as pure and undefiled. And our actions should be like those the writer shared; caring for those who can't care for themselves; orphans, the homeless, the widows, those in distress. These will not only keep us "unstained," but will remove any stains on us now.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, let me go out of my comfort zone. I know I seek to find the easiest way out; but now I want to go beyond. Let me seek to hear from You more than an hour a Sunday; may it be an hour a day that I hear from You. Let me also seek to work for You as I seek to be pure and undefiled before You. I cannot do it alone, I need You. And this prayer of faith I lift up in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Start right now with the pure and undefiled life we are to live!
Eradio Valverde
