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More James commentaries
James 2:1-9
Beware of Personal Favorites
James 2:10-18
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James 2:19-26
Faith is Proved by Works
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Don’t Boast about Tomorrow
James 5:1-6
Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged
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Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged
James 5:1–6
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
After Jack Eckerd, founder of Eckerd Drugstore chain traveled with Chuck Colson, he read the story of Watergate and Colson’s testimony out of Colson’s book. One day he called Chuck Colson to tell him he believed and was a Christian. After that Jack Eckerd walked through one o … More
As believers our own lives do not even belong to us (I Corinthians 6:19-20). God is the owner and He has placed us here as caretakers. This places a big responsibility on us with each thing the Lord has entrusted to us. It is possible to be poor in this life and to be rich in the next life. It is also possible to be rich in this world and poor in the next world.
James shows how the greedy attitude of the rich had manifest itself through the withholding of wages from those who had worked for them (v. 4). The Mosaic law specifically condemned this: “Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy ..” (Deut. 24:14). It seems that these rich, selfish, pleasure loving people were living in luxury while those who worked for them were living in circumstances of the most distressing character (vv. 5-6).Application
A good question to ask is - How much of my time is spent in accumulating things that will only rust and decay? On the other hand how much of my time is spent on things that will last for eternity?
James 5:1-6 (English Standard Version)
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »
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