October 26 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

James 5:

¹Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
²Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
³Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
⁴Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
⁵Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
⁶Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
⁷Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
⁸Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
⁹Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
¹⁰Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
¹¹Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
¹²But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
¹³Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
¹⁴Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
¹⁵And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
¹⁶Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
¹⁷Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
¹⁹Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
²⁰Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Devotional

Nearly everybody is doing it, or is trying to do it. Man thinks he is wise when he is able to accumulate riches. He thinks that he will be happy if he should succeed. And the warnings of the Word of God go unheeded. Christ says "Lay not up for your­selves treasures upon earth." And He warns us that earthly riches perish or may be stolen. Solomon says, "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom." "He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him." In Psalm 39:6 we read: "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them."

The riches of the rich will not allow their possessors to be happy in this life. James says "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire."

And what about the hereafter? Jesus says "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." The rich man lifted up his eyes in hell. Paul writes to Timothy, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." May we be thankful.

Prayer

O Lord God, help us to put our trust in Thee for our earthly needs as well as for our soul's salvation. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content, and if riches increase may we not set our heart upon them. Work Thou in our hearts the certainty of our soul's salvation. May we not lay up treasures for ourselves on earth, but may we be rich in God. And may we be faithful stewards of all that Thou hast given unto us. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Matt. 6:19; Prov. 23:4; 28:22; James 5:1-3; Mark 10:23; Luke 16:23; 1 Tim. 6:17.

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