Take a moment to read James 2:1-8 before reading the devotional below.
Funny how we tend to act differently around different people. At a conference I attended in Chicago, Joyce Meyer challenged us on favoritism when she said that if a poor-looking person asked us for a ride home we might complain or say no, but everyone would probably be more than willing to give her a ride home! As we are seeing on the political scene right now, when Christians cozy up to money and power we lose what it means to be followers of Jesus.
Do you have relationships with materially poor people? If you don’t, you don’t know what you are missing. Those with nothing to lose are some of the most honest, caring and humble people I have ever met. I chose to live and serve in an inner city specifically so that I would spend time with people different than I was used to. The front row of our church makes me so proud every single Sunday because of these verses in James. Sometimes they are a little too rowdy and I’m pretty sure Jesus absolutely loves it.
Imagine if we wandered the streets looking for people who had nothing and we handed them a set of keys to a brand new mansion (where nothing ever breaks!). God is so generous, and he is also incredibly unimpressed by earthly wealth and status. If you are chasing money, power, status, fame, or the next best thing then you are running farther and farther from God’s kingdom. The best inheritance goes to the ones who will appreciate it most.