“Therefore,
whoever knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.”
This
verse would indicate that God wants us to play both sides of the ball. Of
course we must defend against temptation, but we also need to run to the battle
and play offense by doing what we know is right.
If
you ask most people to define sin they will give you a long list of things you
are not supposed to do. But this passage broadens that definition.
There
are obviously sins of commission, but what about sins of omission? Most of us don’t intend to kill and steal
today …but do we have a plan to do what God has laid on our heart to do?...If
we ignore His prodding James labels it a sin.
So,
what is James talking about? Maybe he
is referring to the Spirit’s nudging about the guy you know that eats by
himself each day? … or the widow in your neighborhood that God is pushing you
to call or visit… or the family you know
in dire financial need?
Our
faith is not just restrictive - it must be assertive as well. When we only
worry about what we should not do, our faith becomes lifeless. We need to have vibrant, active, busy faith.
Faith that reaches for our wallet to help other people, faith that visits
hospitals, faith that interrupts our daily schedule to help strangers.
Let’s plan to DO something today. Ask God to give you a “mission”. It won’t take
Him long to put a need on your heart… when He does, go meet it.
No doubt it is important that you abstain from even
the appearance of evil…but while you are not doing anything wrong today…let’s
set out to do some things right.
Call Compassion and support a child, provide
funding to a mission that feeds the homeless, pray for those God puts on your
heart.
This verse says it’s a sin to ignore God and not
do what you know is right. What it doesn’t mention is how exhilarating it is when
you do what He says… play a little offense today and you will see what I mean.
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do
not do, for which we are accountable.” ― Molière
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