Call of the Wild: a Journey Through the Book of JamesSample

Get Outside

Today in America, we spend 95% of our day inside. Whether it be at home, in the car, on a subway, in a restaurant, at the office, in a school, or wherever, it all adds up to spending the vast majority of our life indoors.

On top of this, we also spend an inordinate amount of time staring at our devices. Today, a child in America on average spends twelve hours a day face-to-face with a device. Meanwhile, they are spending four to seven minutes outdoors a day; the disparity is astonishing.

This lifestyle, though common and convenient in today’s culture, is wildly detrimental. Depression, anxiety, ADHD, and so many other conditions today stem from this unhealthy way of life. Today, more than ever, it is so important to get outside.

In our reading today James says the exact same thing. In order for our souls to be healthy, we need to get outside. He isn’t talking about taking a walk around the block today on your lunch break. James is talking about getting outside of yourself.

All of the problems and struggles that we have with each other actually come from inside us. James says: the problem is within you. There’s a sin beneath the sin.

Beneath the surface frustration, defensiveness, or divisiveness, there is hidden jealousy, envy, and lust. And those hidden sins may start small, but small concessions over a long period of time give way to huge problems; sin snowballs. 

So what is the answer to the strife, division, and quarreling in our world? It’s certainly not within us. Rather, it’s without us. That’s why Jesus came. He entered our world, but was not of our world, so that He could save our world.

And in order to grow closer to the God who saved us we need to take action. James tells us to get lost in God’s love for us by being in His Word. Get reps by standing up to temptation so that you can become stronger and create a habit of righteous living. Thirdly, get serious because life doesn’t last forever. And finally, get together because living life God’s way is supercharged when it’s done in community with fellow believers.