Reading and meditation on Chapter 5 of the Letter of James:
There will be a judgment of the rich men who oppress the poor and extort their employees: « Come, now, you rich men, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you. 2Your riches have rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver have rusted away, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh. What you have stored up will be like a fire in the last days. 4Look! The wages you have withheld from the workers who harvested your fields keep crying out, and the cries for help of the reapers have reached the ears of Jehovah of armies. 5You have lived in luxury and for self-gratification on the earth. You have fattened your hearts on the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one. Is he not opposing you? » (verses 1-6).
Jesus Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount that wealth has a temporary value, in a similar way: « Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also » (Matthew 6:19-21).
The apostle Paul writes that the money is not the problem, but the love of money: « But those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains » (1 Timothy 6:9,10).
We must be patient in the Christian hope: « Be patient then, brothers, until the presence of the Lord. Look! The farmer keeps waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, exercising patience over it until the early rain and the late rain arrive. 8You too exercise patience; make your hearts firm, because the presence of the Lord has drawn close » (verses 7,8).
In this text, the presence of Jesus Christ is linked with the fulfillment of Christian hope. In this case, just when Jesus Christ will come to judge humanity, shortly before the great tribulation: « When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left » (Matthew 25:31-33).
After describing dramatic events before the end of this system of things, at a time which should be most distressing and, we are living now, Jesus Christ told his disciples to « erect and lift their heads », because the fulfillment of their hope is drawing near: « But as these things start to occur, raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near » (Luke 21:28).
How to find joy in the midst of personal trials? The apostle Paul wrote that we must follow the pattern of Jesus Christ: « So, then, because we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also throw off every weight and the sin that easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,as we look intently at the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus. For the joy that was set before him he endured a torture stake, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Indeed, consider closely the one who has endured such hostile speech from sinners against their own interests, so that you may not get tired and give up » (Hebrews 12:1-3).
Jesus Christ drew the energy of his endurance in the trials, by the joy of the hope that was set before him. It is important to draw energy to fuel our endurance, through the « joy » of our hope of everlasting life set before us. As for our trials, Jesus Christ said that we must solve them day by day: « On this account I say to you: Stop being anxious about your lives as to what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your bodies as to what you will wear. Does not life* mean more than food and the body than clothing? Observe intently the birds of heaven; they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are? Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span? Also, why are you anxious about clothing? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I tell you that not even Solʹo·mon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. Now if this is how God clothes the vegetation of the field that is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothe you, you with little faith? So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to wear?’ For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things » (Matthew 6:25-32). The principle is simple, we must use the present to solve our problems which arise as they come, trusting in God, to help us find a solution: « Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles » (Matthew 6:33,34). Applying this principle, will help us to better manage mental or emotional energy to deal with our daily problems. Jesus Christ advises against excessive, even morbid anticipation of the problems or trials, that could clutter our minds and take away all spiritual energy from us (Compare with Mark 4:18,19).
Coming back to the encouragement written at Hebrews 12:1-3, we need to use our mental capacity to project ourselves into the future through joy in hope, which is part of the fruitage of the Holy Spirit: « On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law » (Galatians 5:22,23). It is written in the Bible that Jehovah is a happy God, and the Christian is preaching the « good news of the happy God » (1 Timothy 1:11). While this system of things has never been so much in spiritual darkness, we must be a source of light by means of the good news that we share, but also by the joy of our hope that we want to radiate to others: « You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hid when located on a mountain. People light a lamp and set it, not under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it shines on all those in the house. Likewise, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heavens » (Matthew 5:14-16). Let us make the joy of Jehovah our fortress: « Do not feel sad, for the joy of Jehovah is your stronghold” (Nehemiah 8:10).
We must endure the evil and be patient, like Job: « Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you do not get judged. Look! The Judge is standing before the doors. 10Brothers, take as a pattern of the suffering of evil and the exercising of patience the prophets who spoke in the name of Jehovah. 11Look! We consider happy those who have endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome Jehovah gave, that Jehovah is very tender in affection and merciful » (verses 9-11).
After a very severely disciplined against the three Job accusers, Jehovah God delivered Job from his tribulation, created by Satan the devil:
“After Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite:
“My anger burns against you and your two companions, for you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has. 8Now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job, and offer up a burnt sacrifice for yourselves. And my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his request not to deal with you according to your foolishness, for you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has.”
9So Elʹiphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what Jehovah had told them to do. And Jehovah accepted Job’s prayer.
10After Job had prayed for his companions, Jehovah removed Job’s tribulation and restored his prosperity. Jehovah gave him double what he had before. 11All his brothers and sisters and all his former friends came to him and ate a meal with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him over all the calamity that Jehovah had allowed to come upon him. Each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
12So Jehovah blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the beginning, and Job came to have 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 pairs of cattle, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13He also came to have seven more sons and three more daughters. 14He named the first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15No women in all the land were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16After this Job lived for 140 years, and he saw his children and his grandchildren—four generations. 17Finally Job died, after a long and satisfying life” (Job 42:7-17).
We must respect our word: « Above all, my brothers, stop swearing, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” mean yes and your “No,” no, so that you do not become liable to judgment » (verse 12).
Jesus Christ says exactly the same thing in the sermon on the Mount: « Again you heard that it was said to those of ancient times: ‘You must not swear without performing, but you must pay your vows to Jehovah.’ However, I say to you: Do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, since you cannot turn one hair white or black. Just let your word ‘Yes’ mean yes, your ‘No,’ no, for what goes beyond these is from the wicked one » (Matthew 5:33-37).
The blessings of the prayer of the righteous one and his teaching to bring back the sinner from his bad behavior: « Is there anyone suffering hardship among you? Let him carry on prayer. Is there anyone in good spirits? Let him sing psalms. 14Is there anyone sick among you? Let him call the elders of the congregation to him, and let them pray over him, applying oil to him in the name of Jehovah. 15And the prayer of faith will make the sick one well, and Jehovah will raise him up. Also, if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, openly confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. A righteous man’s supplication has a powerful effect. 17E·liʹjah was a man with feelings like ours, and yet when he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the land produced fruit. 19My brothers, if anyone among you is led astray from the truth and another turns him back, 20know that whoever turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save him from death and will cover a multitude of sins » (verses 13-20).
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Meditation on the Letter of James leading to Christian maturity
When we read the Letter of James, it is surprising to see the likeness of his way of teaching, with that of his older brother Jesus. He uses many illustrations as Jesus did…
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Achieving Spiritual Maturity (Hebrews 6:1)
Table of contents of the http://yomelyah.fr/ website
Reading the Bible daily, this table of contents contains informative Bible articles (Please click on the link above to view it)…
Table of languages of more than seventy languages, with six important biblical articles, written in each of these languages…
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