Choosing Good

I was reading in James last night and I read James 4:17, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." It made me think of all of the times when, even inadvertently, I might know a good thing to do but just let it pass me by. I compared the verse in James to Luke 12:47, "The servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows."

I know that God will not literally have us beaten, but how great our reward in heaven will be if we can obey God and follow his commands. Even if we don't realize that we have passed up an opportunity to do good John 9:41 tells us "Jesus said, 'If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains." The Message version translates it this way, "... but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure."

I do not claim to see everything, but I claim to be a Christian and thus to know and understand the commands of Christ. God tells us to take care of the widows and orphans and to love others as we do ourselves. In order to do that I must be aware of the needs around me so that God can use me to serve others. I get distracted in my busy life and focus entirely on what I need to do and where I need to go, what chores I need to get done. When I am so focused on myself I am less aware of what people around me are in need of. I am going to make it my goal to be more aware of people around me. I will pray for God to help me to see what people need the way that He does so that I may be aware of their needs and how He can use me to help fill them.