Jas 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
How easy it is for us to 'fall in condemnation' because we enjoy talking. Our tongues enjoy wagging. Where would most of us be if we didn't have wagging tongues? We love the sound of our own voices, don't we? Can we go a month without talking? A week? A single day? Seriously, can we willingly- not medically induced, keep from talking for a single day. What do you think would happen if you tried it? Do you think you'd succeed? You say you have to talk, that family, friends, co-workers and such are dependent upon your talking. Then ask yourself if you did have laryngitis how would they survive without your speaking? That's different you say? No, it's really not. Unless of course you result to writing, which people can do when they can't speak- but in truth it's still a form of communication and don't we need to just see what it's like NOT to speak for a bit?
This verse in James talks about us no swearing by heaven or earth or anything really. We need to speak plainly. What is more than yes and no leads to confusion a lot of times. We want to say more than yes and no we want a lot of leeway.
We do NOT want to fall into condemnation. We should not make any oaths because we have power over NOTHING. We have to realize our place and that is as a creature and as a creature we have no power, our Creator has the power and it's to Him we have to bow down and worship. We have to realize that He has the control we have none.
We are condemned when we believe we have power, when we believe we have control. As long as we believe more in ourselves and less in God we are lost. People have to believe this because it's true.
Our God is so awesome, He is all powerful!
The mercy of God is beyond our comprehension.
God is our all in all, so far above us and we are blessed, blessed to be able to worship Him.
We really do have to consider how we speak much more than we do and James has been paramount in trying to teach us this.
Please Lord help us to take Your words to heart, let us realize our place, You are our all in all forever and ever.
Amen.
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