Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 NIV
The Context:
The world defines religion as: the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. The definition admits that man can choose to believe in the One true God or other false gods. It is my belief that drives my convictions and my actions. If I know the God i serve can kill me if I disobey His commands, won't that drive me to avoid anything that will cause me to disobey? Maybe the reason why we don't have much regard for the true God is because we have not really had a personal experience of Him. Yes, we read and hear a lot about Him, we even come to 'worship' in His house, but do we really know Him, or are we simply keeping up with the required practice of religion? This is why the verse before today's extract is relevant here: Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. James 1:26.
Am I so focused on the outward practice that my inner life is a mess? Have I become so used to pretence and hypocrisy that even I do not even understand what my pursuits and priorities should be anymore? There is a grave danger in holding on to what looks good at the expense of what God considers right. Everything about me must speak to my religion: my words, my secret and public lifestyle, my dreams, my thoughts, my all. If men cannot see the outward proof of my inner conviction, then what is the use of the religion I profess to have?
The Message:
Today's extract first seeks to confirm which religion I subscribe to, before it then tellls me what that religion demands from all who claim to follow it. And this is the clincher: even men who claim not to have any religion do these things. There are so many Not-for-profit organisations (NGO/NPOs) which do these things, so it has to mean more to me than what is popular or widely celebrated. Look at the passage above: 'Religion that God our Father accepts'. The first thing is to settle my ownership and allegiance: Is God my own father? If He is, then He will accept all that I do in His name. If I am not, He will still take glory through the things I do, but there is no eternal reward. Of what use is a life that man celebrates down here for impact, but has no reward of eternal life? The first and most important consideration here is to sort out the One to whom ALL my allegiance is to. When that is settled, the rest of today's extract will flow a bit more easily.
Then comes the public confession that should follow my inner profession. When I have declared God as my Father, I must do the things that are close to His heart. There are lives to bless, lives to impact, lives to touch. Widows and orphans to take care of. Look again at the definition of religion: belief in and worship of a personal God. How does this relate to taking care of orphans and widows? This is the God we have been called to serve: the proof of my belief in and worship of Him is seen in my dealings with man in the public, my dealings with man from a distance and my worship of God in the secret place, away from the prying eyes of man. I am called to impact the world for this God, and I cannot do it if I am not separate and distinct from the world. I cannot do it if I do not have a relationship with God. Men may celebrate and applaud all my efforts; in fact, the people I seek to serve may bless God for my service, but would it be worth it if I do not have any eternal reward for all I have done in the name of God?
The Response:
Before I seek to impact men, I must first let God impact my life. It is from what I have that I can give out. I can spend myself for the poor, even giving up my life in service to humanity, yet God says if I do not have love, the type that is of and from God, I gain nothing. In that day, men will stand before God and claim that they worked for Him, invoking His name and performing miracles, but He will say to them: "I do not know you". What can be worse than the non-recognition by God of the work you claim to have been done in His name?
Do not forget the last part: keep away from being polluted by the world. If I learn nothing from God, this must be my daily guide: eternal life is the one and only true reward. Men's applause is temporary; ask Jesus at the Triumphant entry into Jerusalem and at the cross. Man's disapproval too is temporary; ask all the early apostles who were killed or harassed because of their faith. We remember them today, and we bless God for their lives, which continue to speak, centuries after their death. I must not focus on the temporal and the ephemeral, but on the eternal. While working down here, I must keep both eyes on the eternal, so that I do not miss it. The world must not have a hold on my heart, so that its distractions keep me away from total devotion. The world only has pollution; God wants only purity. Only two choices; the choice of pursuit is mine; eternity lies at the end of either decision. God's time of favour is here.
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