James

20Jan12

James 1:1 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

We can’t help but wonder what it was like to grow up in the same household as Jesus-to watch Him grow and mature from a small child to a teenager and finally to a young adult. We know that Mary would have been witness to this as well as Joseph for a certain extent of time. But the Bible tells us that there were other half-siblings who grew up alongside Jesus, and they included four half-brothers and at least two half-sisters (Mark 6:3).

One of those half-brothers, James, went on to become the leader of the Jerusalem Church, and he also authored an epistle that bears his name. Notice how he began his epistle in the verse above, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…”

It’s interesting that James doesn’t make it a point to identify himself as one of the few who got to grow up alongside Jesus. He didn’t write, “James, a special someone who had an inside track on who Jesus is so you better pay special attention to me.” Instead, he put himself in with everyone else, calling himself a “servant.”

This title tells us something significant about James. It speaks to his humility and his desire to be known as a servant and not a master. He didn’t want to use his unique vantage point as a means of climbing over others, because he understood that we’re all essentially equal in Christ’s eyes. Whether you grew up under same roof with Jesus or not, He doesn’t play favorites. We all have equal access to the privileges of knowing Jesus, and the greatest privilege of all is to serve Him.

James doesn’t elaborate on what it was like to grow up alongside Jesus. Instead, he reminds us that at the end of the day the greatest honor we can ever attain or experience in this life is to be servants of the King of kings, and that is true for absolutely everyone.

Advertisement

Filed under: daily devotions   |  1 Comment