This is the day
that the LORD has made. I will live and
rejoice in it! Amen.
In Chapter
4, James is warning the community that
while yes, they are praying, they are praying for the wrong things. Jesus said, “everyone who asks receives” (Mat 7:28). Yet James reminds his readers that they do
not receive because they asked wrongly.
They are praying for the things which will satisfy their own desires. Their focus has gone off of God and onto the
wrong things of the world. … also known as their own self-centredness.
Before entering
the sanctuary, Priests of the Old
Testament washed their hands and feet.
Any priest who violated this law would die (Exodus 30: 17-21). Rabbis instructed everyone to wash their
hands before eating. Jesus took this command and stated that true
cleaniness is in the heart. It is our
inner longings that become our outward actions.
For the community that James was writing too, the problem was building from praying for the
wrong things to fighting within the community to boasting and bragging about
their life. This was ripping apart the new Christian community. James warns this community that to
deliberately fail to do what one knows is right is sinful. Wow.
Great God, thank you for the Book of James that I can be
reminded to keep my focus upon You for all thing and at all times. Cleanse my heart O Lord to do Your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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