5 Rich oppressors
Now listen you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you... Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourself in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. James 5: 1, 4 – 6 [NIV]
We are rich. We are rich not only in the spiritual sense that God has adopted us as his children, but we are materially rich. Consider this:
If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank and spare change somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. And if you can read this message, you are more blessed than more than 2 billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
Sounding like an Old Testament prophet, James lays into people who, while living in luxury themselves, treat their workers with contempt.
Is he talking about me and you? We are rich, but how do we use our riches? Do we give some of our money away to help those who are struggling? Do we shop in places where the goods have been made by workers who have not been exploited? At some stage in the future we may be asked to give an account of how we used what we had been given.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the riches I have in Christ. Help me use what I have to help other people and to extend your kingdom.
David Long
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