Daily Devotional for Sunday, March 31

The Soul-winner

“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let 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,” James 5:19, 20.

When people band together in an effective and cohesive group of any size, the amount of work that happens increases exponentially. One person can do the work of one person, yet two people working together as a team can do more than one person times two. As the saying goes, “There is strength in numbers.” Sometimes, when people band together, things go wrong. Things go wrong in churches. Things go wrong among us because we are sinners. Just as sin fractures our relationship with God, it fractures our relationships with each other.

There is some debate about to whom this passage refers. Is it teaching us our responsibility to tell the lost about their lost condition? Is it teaching us about our responsibility to reach out to an erring brother and help him get back in line? It does not matter; the primary lesson remains the same. James has just spent five chapters giving us clear lessons about many of our responsibilities in Christian living, and he closes with one last one. Did you know that you actually are your brother’s keeper? We each have a duty to reach out to others around us and help them live godly lives.

It may mean reaching out to a lost friend, relative or stranger on the street. It may mean reaching out to a brother or sister on a destructive path and teaching that person a better way. James does not close with any happy ending salutation; he just leaves us with this last thought: What will you do with it, and to whom will you tell it?

JUST A THOUGHT
If you stand by and just watch the world around you or the people around you descend into sin, then you are no better than they are.

Wally Fry