A test for our time by Deon Crafford

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart!Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting!

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

This time of the year in Pretoria is when the Jacaranda trees that line the city’s streets are in full purple bloom. All along the streets you find families doing photo shoots against the backdrop of the purple infusion. It it also signals the time of school and university exams, and urban legend has it that your exams are likely to go well should a purple flower fall on your head. As a Christian I should also subject myself to examination as the Psalmist expressed to God. There is much counterfeit Christianity in the world today, because God’s ways has been made subservient to the world’s ways. The epistle of James is a great examination for us all, and will test our faith for authenticity. And James starts with providing us the memorandum for this examination. He being the half-brother of Jesus and the spiritual leader of the Jerusalem church, introduces and identifies himself not as either of these, but as a servant or bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we’re true in the faith, we too will have a servant heart. Counterfeit Christianity however, reverses this by making God and/or His Word the servant of man and his world. We’re all vulnerable to this failure. Let James test us on all sides and help us to return to the fullness of our faith.

Love to all