orange vest required

Come take a seat and soak in the sunshine of spring. Old man winter has been so cranky about giving up his time around here.

Congrats to Annie on winning the Many Ways Bag from Noonday Collection!! Email your address and I will send it out this week.

So I’ve been looking hard at this verse lately and how it applies to me and my family…

“ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted from the world.”  James 1:27 NIV

You may be just as familiar with this verse and the responsibility it places on our walk as Christ followers.

BUT there’s another part of this verse that almost never gets any attention. At least I never hear it being talked about when people reference the verse. So you can see how it hit me square between the eyes. One word: conviction.

….and to keep oneself from being polluted from the world.

Pollution is a gross word. Immediately images of smog covered cities and trash filled ponds and rivers come to mind.  We get really ticked when we see Sonic cups and Dorito bags trashing up Gods creation. Why?  Because these things do not belong there. 

But according to Gods word…we too can become polluted. And you know I’m not talking about air quality.  Let’s look a little deeper shall we.

“ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – come not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

1 John 2: 15-17 NIV

If the things of this world are the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life well then I’m guilty on all accounts.  According to Barnes’ Notes on the Bible & Clarks Commentary:

Lust of flesh-  that which pampers the appetite or all that is connected with indulgence.  Check

Lust of eyes- What merely gratifies the sight. For me this is clothing, home décor, etc. To sum it up in one word: T.J. Maxx. (I may or may not frequent this store more than once a week.)  The thing on which the eye delights to rest where there is no higher object of life.  Check, check.

Pride of life- Hunting after honor, titles, ostentation or boasting.  Well crap.

For heavens sake this needs its own blog post.

My life, my body is Gods creation and these contaminants do not belong there.  I think its time to put on the orange vest and start picking up the trash that has polluted my soul and mind. Twist on the Brita filter and use Gods Word to separate impurities of this world. Trade my gas guzzling SUV in for…..kidding! I’ll stop at that. 

Listen sister!  I love, love James 1:27 and I am by NO means placing more importance on the last part over the first.  But if we want to walk this out in a way that is truly PURE and FAULTLESS then we must be willing to examine our hearts and allow Gods truth to shed some light into those dark places. To put it simply: we must apply all aspects of James 1:27.

So here’s my question-- I’m curious if there are intentional ways you might keep your soul free of these pollutants.

FYI: My knowledge of the technical mumbo jumbo is quite limited. From what I understand, in order to comment you must click on the past comments in order to leave yours. Also- If you’d like to be known as anyone else but “anonymous” you can use the drop down menu to put your name. Whatever is cool by me.