caring

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27 NLT

If I asked you what you thought pure and genuine religion was would you give the same answer? Probably not. Perhaps you would say reading your bible and praying every day, loving the Lord to the best of your ability, or if you were heroic,  perhaps serving your community in a soup kitchen, or with St Vincent de Paul or the Salvation army.

The verse before this verse above James says : if you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself and your religion is worthless. 

What is motivating James? Perhaps he had a problem with gossips and people who were lazy. James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem. As any good leader he is addressing issues. How does this help us? It makes me smarten up and listen. We have orphans and widows in our world but where do we find them? Who do they represent? The homeless, lonely, neglected?

Our state has a constant meed for foster homes and our streets do have the lonely living by themselves. Perhaps we can ask the Lord to open our eyes so we can see where He would have us serve? At least we can visit the lonely. Amen!

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