James in his letter to the Jews scattered all over the world says “13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Well, there is no harm in the above plan – Go to a place, work/trade and get money in return. I find no harm in such an honest idea. I think everyone of us have such an idea. Go to a place, work and earn money to live. But James poses a question to the ones who have such a common idea. In fact he thunders “What is your life?” James is very direct. He slaps you in your face and makes you think. James’ question is a very important one. “What is your life?” Have you thought about this question? Have you thought of answering this question? Have you thought what your life is? James is not asking “What is life?” rather he is asking “What is your life?” Many of us carry on living even if we don’t know why. We need not be philosophers to answer James’ question. We know what our life is. We know what we life for.
Just like Christ was crucified between two thieves, now there are two kinds of Christians. Those two thieves each had something to say to Jesus that day. Both of them had just a few more hours to live. So it was almost their last words spoken. It was of high importance. Those last words reflected their philosophies of life. One said “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us.” Look at what he said. There is no harm in this. He was being honest. He wanted to live. He knew that the Messiah could do anything. He needed a miracle and he asked for it. Of course he asked the right person. In a few hours he would be killed. If there was one person who could save him from that it was the Messiah. Clever chap!
Look at what the other thief said. The other thief said “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. What was that!! That was not very clever. C’mon here was the Messiah next to you and you ask him something that you cannot see now. Hey, don’t you want to live in the present? The Messiah is the maker of the universe. He made everything and he could do anything. Why would a thief with his death few hours away utter such a vague wish? Strange.
There are two kinds of Christians today in the Church. One kind is like the first thief. They seem to say “Lord, since you are the God of this universe - omnipotent, all-powerful, please get me this job. I could live comfortably with this secure job.” And you would hear them quote scripture too “Lord, since its written in your word that you will do much more than we ask for and beyond our imagination we ask you to help us build this Church building, because we don’t have a place to sit on Sunday mornings.” Does this sound similar to the prayers in your church? Well, this kind of Christians are only bothered about this life (this life that James calls a mist). This life is very precious to them. They are always looking to be secure and comfortable. Their idea of God blessing a person is when he gets a good job and is comfortable. Their idea of God blessing a church is when the church can afford a mega structure with air conditioning or arrange mega meetings in the city with star preachers. You’ll find this kind everywhere. “Of course, God said he offers life to the full” is what they say.
There is another kind. They are like the second thief. Their attitude to life is very different. They rarely pray for things. They are not bothered about this life very much. They live here but they are always thinking about eternity. Their prayers are for spiritual growth – things that would matter in eternity. Their prayers are for other people. You rarely see them pray long public prayers. They are not bothered much about salaries or possessions. They are pre-occupied with going the way Jesus went. They study Jesus’ life and try to follow that. Their idea of God blessing a person is when there is power in that person's witness. You rarely find people from this group. They are not the ones in the lime light. They are not the ones who pray in meetings. But we will only know them in eternity when we stand before the Judgment seat.
What is your life?
