Don’t Be Neglectful

If there’s one thing about being a daily bible reader it’s the fact that sooner or later you’ll come across one of those verses that hits you square in the face. The letter of James is packed full of those kind of verses but one in particular is:

James 4:17, NKJV

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

Wow! Now don’t that just get your goat! (Pardon the grammar). It’s hard enough that I have to fight off temptations and abstain from doing all the bad stuff but now I have to worrying about not doing the good stuff too. In the preceding verse James has warned us not to be too presumptuous in taking tomorrow for granted, life is short and can end in an instant. Thus we must do our best to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself. Galatians 6:10 come to mind,

Galatians 6:10

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

I must admit that there have been many times I’ve let opportunities to do good or help others pass by, chances that will never come again. We all need to be reminded that

James 2:15-17, NKJV

“If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

The keyword to Christian maturity is “ACTION”. Ours is not a religion of leisure but of hard work. “You mean I have to do more than make a nice comment when someone posts their troubles on social media?” “Yep, you do.”

1 John 3:18, NKJV

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”

Jay Launius 2018 Maud church of Christ Maud, Texas