James 5:1-6 - You can make a difference!

Scripture: James 5:1-6

Summary: Rich people, weep for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted. You kept your laborers back by fraud. You have murdered the righteous one.

Thoughts: Wow! This writer doesn't hold back his condemnation of the rich! Now before I get carried away, I should say that I don't believe that all rich people are guilty of what this writer is accusing them of. However, we also need to remember that to most of the world we are rich. I'm saying "we" because I'm assuming that most of the readers of this blog are, like me, comfortably middle class. But compared to the majority of people on this world, we are rich.  Do you have a car? Do you have enough food to eat and a safe, comfortable place to stay at night?  Then you, like me, are rich. So when I read this scripture and try to tell myself that he is not writing about me, I have to think again. Because certainly some of the things I buy are made by laborers who are not making a living wage.  Most of the coffee for sale today is harvested by people who are not given a fair wage. Many of our clothes and shoes are made by people or children in sweat shops. Much of our meat comes from animals who are raised in horrible conditions. But what can we do about any of this? Well, we can buy fair trade coffee. We can buy local vegetables and fruits. We can buy free range eggs and meat which comes from local producers. For these and other ways you can make a difference, check out Cool People Care. Because there are thousands of ways that we can make a difference, one thing at a time.

Prayer: God help me to remember that I am your hands and feet. That I can make a difference to the world in which I live. Amen.