Pastor Chris’ Corona Quarantine Epistles to the Flock of AIC Ngong Road, in Dispersion and Isolation. 47th. Edition.
Dear Partakers of the Divine Nature,
Welcome to our continuing meditations in the letter of James. Today we are in 1:22-25. In this section, James contrasts two approaches to the word of God: Self Deception (vv. 22-24). People who deceive themselves are those who hear (or read) the word, then go on with life, as if they had not heard. They may remember the word. They may have memorized it, even. But they “forget” (ignore) what it says. Yet the word is like a mirror. The purpose of a mirror is to show us a reflection of who we are. We look in the mirror so that we can correct any flaws we see. If I look at the mirror and see a bit of my breakfast stuck between my teeth, I should not just go on with life. I need to clean my teeth first. If I do not, and go my way, flashing smiles at everyone I meet, it is only I who will be deceived by the smiles. Everyone can see what is wrong with me, and that is how it is with ignoring the word.
We can pretend all we want, it is evident to all that things aren’t right. Doing what the Word Says (v. 25). The person who obeys the word does so because he/she holds the word in high regard as God’s perfect revelation that addresses every human situation. But the doer also acknowledges the word as the “law of liberty,” not an oppressive set of rules. Jesus says that his “yoke is easy and [His] burden is light,” (Matthew 11:30), and John says of the Lord, that “his commandments are not burdensome,” (1 John 5:3). Jesus has set us free. We are not under obligation to the law, but he has given us his Spirit. By this Spirit we are free and he also produces in us the “fruit of the Spirit… against which there is no law,” (Galatians 5:22-23).
We are free, yet our freedom results in fruit that is pleasing to God. Don’t be a slave of wrong attitudes. God sent Jesus to set us free – why should we look at his word as a set of burdensome instructions?
Your Loving Pastor Chris.