Good morning. “I didn’t do it!” If true, that seems like a reasonable excuse, doesn’t it? How could we be held accountable if we aren’t even in action?
Wait a moment, for when we read James 4:17 we understand that there is an additional obligation to consider: If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
It seems as though there is plenty to be concerned about in thinking of the things we do that are not within the will of God. Are we also to assess those things which we do not dothat are within the will of God? In reading James 4:17 it seems quite clear that the answer is “yes”.
When we think of it, we should hardly be surprised at this truth. As God provides the understanding so that we clearly know what His will for us is, and yet we refuse to follow His will and do what we know is right, that is sin.
Let’s consider an example: You see a person that you do not know who is staggering drunk and wandering down the street. Do you poke your friend in the side and make a rude comment or a tasteless joke? Do you stay clear of the person so that you need not interact with them? Do you look the other way and shake your head in disgust over what this world is coming to? Do you take out your phone and call 911 to report that there is a person in such a state behaving poorly in public? What should we do?
Is it enough to lift up a quick prayer that they will find their way home safely, and perhaps learn their lesson? Should we call a pastor or a deacon from our church and say that there is a person at that location, and suggest that perhaps they might consider doing something?
Or is it the will of God that we go out of our way, out of our comfort zone, out of what we consider to be our realm of responsibility and do something positive and effective? What if making contact with this person has the possibility of danger, or they smell terrible, or they are saying things that are distasteful and vulgar? What if? Do those things negate spiritual responsibility?
This was a fairly extreme example, but I think that most of us can remember a recent time when we could have said something, done something, tried something, or even forgiven something, but we failed to act.
Please remember today that righteous life in Christ is not complete unless we are doing what is right and righteous.
Vern