So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. (Ephesians 2:19)
My theology says that our Heavenly Father takes care of us, yet the thoughtfulness of others in His household makes His care tangible, far more than a matter of faith. We are told to care for one another and when it happens. This visible expression is not only the action of an obedient and caring family member, but God expressing His love through their obedience.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10)
Today’s devotional points out the opposite by reference to this verse;
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8)
Since I am a member of the “household of God,” this applies to God. He is the Father, the head of His family. If He should fail to provide for me, His own words would condemn Him. While many who suffer think that God has forgotten them, that cannot be true. He provides, not only soup and bread but all that I need. I cannot say otherwise for if I think He has abandoned me, then I am saying He is worse that an unbeliever. This is so wrong. I may not understand the purpose for my suffering, but to even think that He is not providing for me shows a complete misunderstanding of who He is and how He cares for His people.
As the devotional writer says, knowing this lifts the burdens of life from my shoulders and lays them on His. My fears, anxieties, and questionings are His concern, not mine. Just as humanity demands that parents care for and protect their children, this is my Father’s care and protection, even His divinely implanted instinct put into the heart of of those with children. It displays that my Creator, who made human parents responsible toward their children, is himself equally responsible toward His children.
Knowing this means I can rest in the care of my Father. I don’t need to listen to temptations that cause doubt or anxiety or fear because if I did listen, I would be saying that my Heavenly Father is not worthy of my trust.
PRAY: Jesus, with this illness, I’ve not prayed much and felt guilty for this focus on how I’m feeling. Yet that is a plus in that I’m trusting You with all the matters at hand. I can rest in Your care knowing that You are faithful and that I need not worry or fret about anything. Thank You!
If I saw a child drowning and didn’t go for help, or let a child play on the street, that could be a crime. If the child died when I could have saved them, I could be charged with depraved indifference. This is close, but not exactly the same as what this verse is talking about: “If you don’t do what you know is right, you have sinned.” (James 4:17)
The law, whether the law of God or the laws of the land, tells me ‘do this’ or ‘do that.’ If I fail to keep civil laws, then civil courts could punish me. The wages of breaking God’s law are more severe. Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death” meaning eternal separation from God. Law breaking is serious. Sin is even more serious.
Yet, because I am a Christian, I am under another law. This law is good news as far as that ‘sin and death’ law is concerned. It says, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set (me) free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)
This means that when (not if) I sin, I will not pay the penalty; Christ has paid it for me. I’m free from that law. Praise God. However, the verse from James puts me under something even more demanding than all the “do nots” of the Old Testament, and even all the civil laws as well.
Knowing to do good makes for a huge list. I cannot imagine how much paper I’d need. Visit the sick. Care for the homeless. Tip the waiter. Sweep up trash. Play music for a shut-in. Learn sign language and talk to the deaf. Make cookies for my grandchildren. Such a list could fill me with guilt as it filled my days with constant effort — if I were certain that failure to do it all makes me a sinner.
Or is this about something else, maybe opportunities? Do I only need to do good when the circumstance presents itself? One verse in the Bible says it could be . . .
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10)
Do I do good only when the time is right? Is that what James 4:17 says? No, it says that I am to do good (or right) when I know something is the right thing to do. That changes this — just a bit.
I’ve known people that could be called “do gooders” with a reputation for constant benevolence, yet when questioned their motivation was something like, “I do these things because they make me feel so good.” In other words, their good deeds have selfish roots. In the to-do list of God’s people, those ‘good deeds’ don’t count.
Doing right isn’t about making me feel good. It isn’t about my plans either. The fact is, I get interrupted almost every day while I’m doing what I had planned by someone who wants me to do something else. Most of the time, the Holy Spirit gives me the nod on the interruption. He says, “This is right; do it.” I know that if I don’t, I am disobeying God and that is sin.
Knowing what is right certainly includes speed limits, and loving my neighbor, and visiting someone in the hospital, but listening to God teaches me that He could ask of me thousands of other right things. These are ‘good’ yet not by the evaluation of any law. I know are good because He says to do them. They might go unnoticed by others but they are important to Him, so important that to ignore them means I have sinned.
