Today’s episode focuses on the book of James and before we jump in, let me say that James talks a lot about the Word. He writes in James 1:22 “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” Be doers not hearers only. That’s why we have said over and over again… when we come to scripture, we listen, we learn but it’s not over till we lean in. Lean into the doing of what we are hearing and learning!
So a bit about James before we jump in. First of all the James who wrote James is James the brother of Jesus. Think about that for a moment. Imagine growing up as the brother of Jesus. How many times did you have to hear your mom or dad say something like, "James why can't you just be more like Jesus?" But James was not a believer/follower/disciple of Jesus before He died. No James doubted that Jesus was who He said He was. But something happened; a u-turn. How did it happen? Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:7 that Jesus took the time to appear one on one with James his brother. How do you suppose that went? I think that's powerful evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. You don't convince a skeptical brother with a fairy tale.
After that James became a leader in the early movement of Jesus-followers. He was there for those amazing early days, but he was also there for the persecution. He watched friends imprisoned, persecuted, and killed. He watched the church scattered and all those experiences shaped his heart. In fact, he had two nicknames that give us a glimpse of his heart. The first was "James the Just." That referred to his honesty, piety, devotion and his heart for those in the margins of life. The second nickname was "Old Camel Knees." He was called Old Camel Knees because of the callouses on his knees and the callouses on his knees were gained from hours spent kneeling in prayer.
So here is what you get when you read James, an honest, humble man who loved people, was filled with practical wisdom, and couldn't stop praying...and oh yeah, the brother of Jesus. It's quite the book!
