A New Devotion - What Is Golden?

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

James 5:7-12

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "Yes" be yes and your "No" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

What Is Golden?

I think one of the consequences of the pandemic has been to slow us down. You see, because it’s limited our activities, we haven’t had the choice but to reduce our speed. Right now, we’re not able to go just about anywhere we desire or to do just about anything we want. Instead, we have to accept that, for a while, our options aren’t what they were and will be again. And even those things we’re able to do, we’re asked to wear masks to do them, not because they’re comfortable but because they might offer some protection for both ourselves and the other guy. Like it or not, right now, that’s the way it is. And so, I think you could say that even if we haven’t chosen to be patient, we’ve certainly had patience thrust upon us.

But before we grumble and complain, two things that some folks have elevated to art forms, we might want to pause and remember that patience is exactly what James challenged his readers to show as they faced all the frustrations of life. And instead to griping, we can use our time to strengthen our hearts and our faith and to work on our endurance. Now this we can do, remembering that we’re walking in the footsteps of the prophets themselves. You see, even though we’re enduring a time none of us would have chosen, we can use the time we have to improve ourselves and the world around us as we calmly wait. And we can do that, because we know the answer to the question: What is golden?