Today’s main idea, at least for me, is so good...I mean, this idea that James paints for us such a great point.

I am not going to read this 13 verses because that is a little longer than what I want to read while also keeping this journal entry shorter.  But, as always, I would encourage you, when you see the passage in the title, flip open your Bible and do a quick survey of these verses, or open the Bible app and listen to them...it takes 30 seconds, but it really helps to tie the passage with the idea that I am presenting.

The passage starts with James condemning the practice of judging people by how they are dressed when they come into a worship setting...meaning, don’t give people who have the trappings of wealth better seats in service than others, and don’t judge people’s faith based on their outward appearance.  He reminds us that God has quite often used a person’s more lowly standing in society as a leverage point to make a bigger point.  James is telling us not to judge a book by its cover essentially.  There is more to it than that, but it is really this second idea that he camps out on that I want to talk about.

In verses 8-13 he lays out an idea that I am really drawn to...I am going to read these few verses: read James 2:8-13.

What I see James showing us is that we get a choice...we can set ourselves up to be judged BY the law or by Grace.  James calls it the law of liberty here, and he did the same back in the 1st chapter in verse 25.  This is a huge idea.  Do you want to be judged according to how well you execute on the Old Testament Law; the Law for which Jews were accountable for something like 1500 years and that no one, meaning NOT ONE, was able to pull off?  Is that the Law against which you want to be judged for purposes of your salvation and Grace?  No!  Of course you don’t!  Of course I don’t!  I want to be judged by the standard Jesus set...Grace.  I want God to see me as a saint that messes up on occasion, not a sinner who is trying to get back into how good graces.  James is telling us that we should apply that same idea in our own lives, to live by grace, to give grace to others.  He says that the law we apply to others is the law that will be applied to us personally.  Wow, that’s strong.  And what an awesome idea!

Do you give up on people?  Do you just emotionally check-out and leave people hanging after a while?  Do you throw your hands up and declare someone worthless in your mind?  Do you judge some people to be worthy of grace and others not?  These are all applications of this idea...the last, judging some worthy of grace and others not, usually because there is a benefit to me or because I want something from them, is exactly where James started the chapter.  That’s what we must stand against.  If we want Grace to be our standard, we must apply Grace to others routinely in our own lives.   Today, I pray that God would show me an opportunity to do that...to give Grace where there is no opportunity to benefit myself.  Today, I will pay it forward in some way as a physical representation of this idea, and to keep me looking for a deeper opportunity to apply this principle of giving Grace even when I don’t want to, even when it isn’t convenient, and even when it costs me.