Title James 01:26-27 Guard Yourself
Contents
01:26-27 Guard yourself
Text / (26) If anyone considers himself religious and does not bridle his tongue and deceives his heart, this man's religion is in vain. (27) Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
The world is all messed up. The focus of world news is on the scenario of the US's war on terrorism, and the dichotomy in which countries around the world either agree with the US or declare war is striking. In the midst of this, I am terrified that I might become a target of terrorism after sympathizing with the United States. Any country wants to protect its own interests.
In the midst of this, corruption in the government and society comes up every day in the domestic news, and each political party raises its stakes to protect its position of power. Even law enforcement agencies are showing extreme signs of pollution. It's always been the case, but when something unsavory happens, each one is making excuses that it's something they don't know, that they did it, and that it's clean. No matter what you do, you are trying hard to protect yourself.
Seeing the grim phenomenon of this generation, the term non-human insufficiency comes to mind. This is what Wang Hee-ji, who is called a master of calligraphy, said to his disciples. Its meaning is that, from the point of view of the teacher, it is impossible to pass on the Tao without a proper person. In other words, no matter how much you want to learn medicine or the Tao, you will not be allowed unless you are the right person. However, this generation is flowing in such a way that ‘the powerful can do whatever they want’.
In addition to this world of power and power, we are exposed to all kinds of diseases, all kinds of accidents and dangerous thoughts, people's greed and violence. But the most dangerous thing for believers is worldly delusion and spiritual stagnation. We must protect ourselves from these things.
God calls attention to ‘the true godliness of the saints living in the last days is to keep themselves unstained from the world’. Also, 2 Timothy 3:1-5 speaks of all the sins that will appear in the last days, saying, “He who has the form of godliness, but denies the power of godliness, turn away from such people.”
First of all, you need to know yourself.
God created man with individuality. So, everyone has their own uniqueness. Type and degree of knowledge, accumulation of experience, talent, wisdom, responsiveness, values, etc. Everyone has their own portion. This means that each has different uses. Therefore, a person must be able to protect himself by distinguishing where he should stay and where he does not.
In Proverbs 3:1, God said, “Everything has a season and every purpose under the heavens.” In Proverbs 16:4, “The LORD has made all things suitable for a covering, and the wicked He also made it suitable for the evil day.” Here is the wisdom we need to gain in this troubled generation.
You ask, “Do you know who you are, what your status is, or what your purpose is to live on this earth?” “And do you know what your spiritual state is?” It sounds like some kind of philosophical question, but is philosophy something special? Isn't life a philosophy? In any case, to protect yourself is to keep the place in your own life that God has given to each of you. To do that, you need to know yourself clearly.
Knowing yourself, you need to figure out what to protect next.
Two things are said in the text. One is to look after orphans and widows in need, and the other is to protect oneself from being polluted by the world.
1) To keep love for people.
From the Old Testament, orphans and widows were used to represent the weak and marginalized. In other words, with the love we have received from God, we need to take care of the poor, the weak, and the marginalized. This is the second of two new commandments that Jesus gave.
Why was the practice of love for people emphasized first? Let's look at 1 John 4:20. “If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar, and he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” This is because it is a lie to say that you cannot love the person you live with and love God that you cannot feel with your physical senses. In 1 John 3:17, He said, “If someone has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need and stops his heart to help, how can the love of God abide in him?”
What is best expressed as an act of love for people is to help the marginalized, the weak and the poor. They can help with a pure heart because they are unable to repay.
2) It is to keep the love of God.
“To keep oneself unstained by the world” is to keep spiritual purity. This is the first of the two commandments that Jesus gave, and it is pure love for God. To be “unstained by the world” means not to fill your heart with worldly things. 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Therefore, a believer cannot focus on anything in the world more deeply than God.
Do you ever wonder, ‘How can I live like this?’ Would it be too hard? However, the road to the eternal happiness of eternal life is not so easy. There is no way to enjoy all the things of this world and secure eternal happiness. But leave all these paths to God and ask for help. Enough to go. And you will find that this path also makes life in this world happy.
The Lord has promised. That we will always be together as long as we live in this world. Not only that, he promised to give us everything we need when we keep our place. Think about how you can keep these two things in your own life. And ask God to make known the way, and to keep it. If you go down this road with a happy heart, you will be protected from all kinds of diseases, all kinds of accidents and dangerous thoughts, from the dangers of people's greed and violence, and all the needs of the world will be met in Jesus Christ.
God cares deeply about our happiness. We pray that we can achieve a happy life in both this life and the life to come by faithfully following this God-given path.