James 5:7-12English Standard Version (ESV)
7 Be patient, therefore,
brothers,[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for
the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the
early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient.
Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another,
brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the
door. 10 As an example of
suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of
the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider
those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of
Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate
and merciful.
12 But above all, my
brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but
let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under
condemnation.
We
were once farmers and so this passage brings a special smile to my face. Once you put the crop in the ground there is still
work to be done but it is up to the Lord as to whether that crop will produce
much or little. Now there is cultivating
to keeps the weeds out and for us there was irrigating to water the crop but
the best time of year was the harvest.
Although it was hard work, it was worth the long days as the crop was
finally mature and ready for market.
Let’s put that in the perspective of the
Christian. Once the seed of Christ is
planted into the hearts of a new believer, there is still work to be done. We need to cultivate by teaching, Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching
and admonishing one another in
all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in
your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16English Standard Version (ESV) (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3:16&version=ESV) I would say the teaching and admonishing one
another in wisdom is like the cultivating of the crops. We need to keep the worldliness, weeds of
this life out of the lives of the new believer.
That is not always an easy task because past experiences can haunt them
and they may even crave them. The weeds
of sin need to be chopped down before they get too big and take over the life
of the individual, therefore we admonish. The praise, hymns, and thankfulness
are the watering, the fresh rain. These
things refresh our soul unless we complain about what songs we sing and how
loud the music is. The harvest is coming so we need to have
patience as we deal with people who might not always make the right
choices. We must seek the Lord and His
wisdom as we do this in order that He may be glorified at the day of
Harvest.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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