Day 3: Sins of Omission

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
James 4:14

I've heard it said that there are sins of commission and omission; there is willful disobedience and passive indifference. Both are called sin.

As followers of Jesus we are taught that we ought to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are even told to go the extra mile and show love and kindness to those we would call our enemies. Our selfless actions are a result of our deep faith in the fact that God is a rewarder of those who follow his commands.

The direct co-relation of the book of Proverbs and the book of James is that faith that is not put into practice is not faith at all. Reading the two books together is a practical guide to the question posed by Francis Schaeffer: How then shall we live?

What I need to remember is that sin is not always the blatant heading for the doors of trouble (as we see later in the book of Proverbs), but it is also avoiding the opportunity set before us to show the love of God in a situation.


Note: For a devotional and comments based on Proverbs 3:5,6 see:

http://lukefiveten.blogspot.com/2009/10/line.html


DKB