Day #62

Please pray for this time you will spend with the Lord.  Give Him the praise He deserves… confess anything that needs to be out in the open… give Him thanks… and finally, pray for others.

We will be studying the next several days on the rich and the poor.

NOTE:  As we read about the rich, please note that scripture does not put down personal wealth.  Evidence of this is throughout scripture.  One proof is that the laws in Moses’ time even had specific rules for getting and handling personal wealth.  So, wealth must have been okay.

However, the Bible does put down acquiring wealth illegally and using it for illegal purposes.  The prophets Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah all thundered out messages of judgment on those that got their wealth by stealing from the poor and using this stolen money for selfish luxuries.

Throughout James 5, we are going to see how the poor handled these troubles from these oppressive rich folks… they prayed.

Please read James 5:1-6.

This section of scripture is foretelling the future of the rich who were wealthy because they stole from the poor.  Their forecast was judgment and hell, YIKES!  Their actions proved obvious that Jesus was not in their lives.  Because they stole wages from the poor and used what they gained on themselves, their riches were sinful.

Please read James 5:4 once more.

Today we will study one of two ways that these sinful rich folks stole from the poor… they held back their wages.  You see, at this time in history laborers were to be hired and paid by the day and they did not have any legal contracts with their employers (ask your parents what this could mean for the laborer).

Please read Matthew 20:1-16 to get a picture for the way things were.  Was it honorable what the wealthy vineyard owner did?  Yes!

Please read Deuteronomy 24:14-15. 

Please list out the details in your journal for how poor laborers were to be treated.

Please read Leviticus 19:13.

Please read Jeremiah 22:13.

These wealthy men had hired these workers and told them that they would pay them a specific amount, which would have been expected by the end of the day when their work was complete.  The workers completed their work, but their wages were “kept back.”  In the original Greek (which is the first language the New Testament was written in) “kept back” can also be translated “never will get their salaries.”  

What about YOU??

Ask God about this lesson today and ask Him to help you get its message and apply it to your life.  Each of us comes from such different backgrounds and ages.  God will speak specifically to you.  But, you must listen and be a doer of what He says.  Remember the past day’s lesson?  The more practice you get with obedience the easier it will be to spot the right thing to do and do it.

TARGET of the DAY

“Thou shalt not steal” is still the law of God and it is a law He will enforce.  As Christians, we should pay whatever we owe to people, whether it is money owed for a debt or work owed because we promised it.  Ask God if there are any debts that you owe people and have not paid it.  Please remember this does not have to be just money.  When He brings this to mind, I pray He makes us uncomfortable with it until we make it right.