Tuesday 6 Nov 2012

Tuesday Reading: James 2:6-13

Key Verse: James 2:13
13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Devotion:
Saying one thing and doing another is a fault that we all have at some stage in our lives, but living by those rules would just be plain stupid because nobody would believe you in the end. So why then do we go there in the first place? Why do we chance our luck or take a step and see what happens? As this passage reminds us, if we sin in one part we are guilty; it does not matter which part of the law that we break because we have broken the law. So if we say one thing and do another, are we not guilty of all?

We may like to think that prejudices are more evil than lies or others may say the opposite; that is going to depend on how we are brought up. But according to God’s law, we should not place levels of guilt on sins because sin is sin and when we sin we are guilty; it is more a case of guilty or not, not how much we are guilty of.

We may have been able to go through life living a very good  life, helping others, not telling lies, not coveting others belongings, listening to our parents and in general keeping most of God’s law; but unless we were able to keep every part of the law, we are still sinners. But that is certainly not the end of the story, otherwise we would have been wiped out a very long time ago!

Instead God has shown us an incredible amount of mercy in that He has given us a way in which we can be declared not guilty. It is not by keeping every part of the law, because that is impossible for us to do. It is not by changing the law so that we can hide our guilt. It is not by saying that we are not guilty. It is through that grace and mercy shown to us by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

If we look at the way in which we show mercy toward others we very quickly find the flaw – if people do not believe that we are showing them mercy because we say one thing and do another, they will not accept it! God, on the other hand, has upheld everything that He has said to us so that we know that He is Holy and Just and that His mercy is true toward those willing to trust in Him. God must judge us if we do not accept the truth because that is what He has promised.

Points to Ponder:
Do you do what you say?

Do you realise the gravity of God’s promises?