Ommission

Is there something you should be doing, but you haven't gotten to it yet?

Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin. - James 4:17

There are things we do that we know are wrong, and there are things we fail to do which we may or may not realize we should have done them.

Should we be held accountable for the things we fail to do?  How do I know it is my task to do and not someone else's?

James comes down hard on the rich, because the way he looks at it, they have the means to help others and choose instead to save their treasures for the future, not knowing if they will even have a future.

He tells them they should be putting their money to work helping the poor, and we get that.  There aren't too many people who would argue that the folks who have a lot should give.

But what about all the rest of us who have a little, from less that a lot to much less, and even all the way down to just a bit?

James would have us take a look at our small treasures and see them as sources of help as well.

Some would say that isn't fair.  Those who have little should not have to give when others have so much, but that's not how James sees it, and one could argue God may be on his side, not ours.

So, while we are lending our voices to the call for others to do what we don't see ourselves doing, we should give some thought to how that sounds to God.  He may just be saying what James said, "Anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin."

More to come...