Rich or Poor?
Have you ever thought “ Wouldn’t it be great to be rich? Or Wouldn’t it be great to be famous?” Sometimes I allow my mind to go on a little imaginative journey but then reality strikes again.
James 2:5-7 5. Listen my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6. But you have dishonoured the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7. Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called.
In these verses James is urging us to shift our gaze from ourselves to Jesus. It’s not about us, it’s all about grace! God knows we can not earn, buy or merit our salvation, we are undeserving of it. Instead He chooses to save us on the basis of what Christ has done for us on the cross. GRACE! He chooses us in our poverty and makes us rich in faith, inheriting the wealth of His kingdom. It’s only when we come acknowledging that we have nothing and are nothing of ourselves that we canbecome rich in all that Christ has for us.
It is possible to be poor in this world and rich in the next, or rich in this world and poor in the next. We could take this a stage further and say that it is also possible to be poor in both worlds or rich in both worlds. Let us make sure our riches are not measured in things but rather in our love of God.
James goes on to warn us in verse 6. that we must not exploit the poor. We having experienced God’s grace in our lives must see the poor and humble as God sees them. Jesus has broken down all the barriers between rich and poor, middle class and working class, educated and uneducated through His life. Let us view those in our pews, in our street, and in our community as God sees them and not as the world seems to categorise them. Remember it’s all about grace!
So my friends are you Rich or Poor?
Heavenly Father I thank you that you do not choose us according to our riches or status but rather you bring us into your family and makes us heirs of your Kingdom because of what Christ has done. I thank you for your amazing Grace. Help me to see others through your eyes. Amen
Hilda Spiers