Just Do It- James 1 (Words Mean Things)

On Sunday, I began a new teaching series through the New Testament book of James, "Just Do It", based from James 1:22, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves". Here is a thought from Sunday and James chapter 1:

Words mean things. In v. 1, James calls himself "a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (depending on the version of the Bible you use, the text may say servant or bondservant). What makes this statement so striking is that James did not always have this respect for Jesus, who was his older half-brother. John 1:5 tells us that even Jesus' own brothers did not believe in Him. But all that changed after Christ's resurrection, when James saw that Jesus had resurrected as He said He would (I Corinthians 15:7).

Now, in James' defense, it had to be difficult to be the brother of Jesus. Many of us have a sister who is "the golden girl"; the brother who can do no wrong. But if your brother is Jesus, he really did no wrong. At some point, from someone in the neighborhood, James had to hear, "why can't you be like your brother" and really he had no chance to do that.

But to go from non-believer to believer to leader of the church in Jerusalem to a slave of Jesus Christ is an amazing transformation. The resurrection was a powerful event.

And words mean things.