James 5:1-6 “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes … You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers … are crying out against you. … You have lived in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.”
These verses are intense, sounding like a harsh rejection of wealth. But James is not attacking wealth itself, he is condemning how some people have attained their riches: hoarding, oppression, self-indulgence, exploitation, and treachery. These are all too common among the rich and powerful. Worldly success is deceptive and exceedingly dangerous – both the pursuit and the attainment. For many, it ends in misery and isolation. What is the remedy? To depend on God, to keep a loose grip, to give generously, to never deviate from integrity, and to love people.
Father, keep me from confusing wealth with wisdom. Instead, please use me as a channel of your generosity and care and hospitality toward others so that your kingdom expands into more lives on this earth.