Thursday 30th June 2016 - Daily Reading:
James 2:1-13 - God has no favourites!
Imagine you go to church on Sunday and there are two new people there. And they are complete opposites!! One of the new people has all the newest stuff... the other looks like he is wearing the same clothes he probably wore 20 years earlier. One has parked up in the newest car, the other arrived on a push bike that he had to push most of the way because it's broken. One smells like he is wearing expensive aftershave, the other smells like he hasn't showered for a while. How are our attitudes towards these two new people?
James here is giving a warning to those reading that they need to be impartial... God doesn't have favourites! The danger is that we can say to the first man 'you sit over here in a good place' and say to the other man 'you just stand over there'. But here is the warning that James gives: Those who fall into that attitude have shown partiality and become judges with evil thoughts.
We all know the verse from 1 Samuel 16:7 "Do not consider his appearance or his height... the Lord does not look at the things people look at. Men look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
If we ever fall into the habit of being partial, judging on appearance and allowing it to show favouritism, we are viewing people in the way that the world would view people, and giving people a status that the world would give them. But God is very clear. He isn't interested in the outward appearance, but He looks at the heart of the individual. God looks for a heart and a life that is set apart for Him, a heart that desires to walk in His ways, a heart of obedience that hears the Word of God and acts on it!
Let us remember how Jesus was with people during his earthly ministry. He ate with sinners and tax collectors, he touch lepers, he associated with prostitutes and those on the bottom rung of society. The lowest of the low, he loved them, he shared with them, and he associated with them. Why? Because he knew what pleased his Father! He knew what God was interested in! He knew that God loved them unconditionally! Let's be more and more like Jesus, not showing favouritism, but doing that which pleases our Heavenly Father!