Day 352, or December the 18th. Yes or no? Our
thoughts today come from James, chapter 5, verse
12. Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not
swear, not by heaven or by earth or by anything
else. All you need to say is a simple yes or
no. Otherwise, you will be condemned. And now
the big picture surrounding this verse. As James
extols the virtues of having faith, he concludes
by saying that faith produces humility and dependence
on God as we await the return of Jesus. On a
practical note, James concludes by telling his
readers to pray if they are suffering and sing
if they are happy. It's simple enough to write,
but life -changing when put into practice. One
of the reasons for scholars thinking that this
letter of James was very soon after Christ's
crucifixion is because of its simple practical
approach. Significantly, this is the very reason
why so many followers of Christ love this short
letter penned by someone who actually grew up
with Jesus as an earthly brother. A word of warning,
however, only read the full version if you want
some blunt, truths to ponder. And now our action
step for today. One of my lecturers during theological
training regularly handed out printed notes rather
than spending a lot of time lecturing, and having
us all write our own notes. I clearly remember
him handing out some hefty piles from time to
time, and once the weight of paper prompted a
fellow student to exclaim, I'm really glad God
didn't get you to write any of the Bible, otherwise
we would all have needed a wheelbarrow to carry
around our pocket testaments. Only joking, of
course, but it sums up what James is surely saying
in today's verse. Yes or no will do. I sometimes
wonder if our answers are often so unnecessarily
long to deter replies. Of course there are times
when we need to say more, but equally there are
times when a brief response gives the other person
an opportunity to reply and create a dialogue
that can benefit both sides. In brief, why not
try brevity?