QTVOTD: The Steamroller of Wealth…

4 [But] look! [Here are] the wages that you have withheld by fraud from the laborers who have reaped your fields, crying out [for vengeance]; and the cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 [Here] on earth you have abandoned yourselves to soft (prodigal) living and to [the pleasures of] self-indulgence and self-gratification. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and have murdered the righteous (innocent man), [while] he offers no resistance to you. James 5:4-6 [AMP]

This continues our passage from yesterday and again want to remind the reader that James is referring to rich non-Christians. What is scary about this passage is how it shows how wealth essentially depraves the un-redeemed mind; promoting inhumane actions and treatment of those who pose no threat to them. When a person treats the downtrodden in this way, James is saying that the Lord hears the cries of those who are oppressed and thrown down. The AMP version says here in verse 5 that the rich person has abandoned who they are in trade for a living of self-indulgence and self-gratification. You might be inclined to develop a dislike and detest people like this, but when I see that ‘abandoned yourselves’, I feel bad and almost pity the person who has chosen this lonely and alone state of life. It is as they have traded all that is available for them for eternity for a short window of pleasure and gratuitousness that does not last but a moment in the grand scheme of their eternal existence.

Application:

The potential for shortsightedness is a capability for all of us living under the sun. We can become consumed with our circumstances and situations so much that we lose sight of the ultimate hope and goal which is a promised life of Eternity with the only One that matters…our Lord Jesus Christ. I need to be better about pulling my head up out of the mire of craziness that can sometimes be work or busy-ness and realign my sights on the ultimate prize.

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