18 Be Patient, Your Payday Is Coming Series

Be Patient, Your Payday is Coming

#18 in the Book of James Series

By Pastor Jim May

James 5:4-6,"Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you."

James 5:7-8, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

Once again we are coming face to face with one of James the Apostle’s favorite subjects: learning patience. I know what you are probably thinking – “I have enough patience already, so get on with it. Teach me something that I don’t know.” Well, my friend, that kind of thinking only proves the point that we all need more patience in suffering, patience in waiting and patience in serving.

In James 5:4-6, we read where God sees the hardships that we all go through. Your many days of working for almost nothing, or earning a pittance for your hard labor, do not go unnoticed by your Heavenly Father. God sees the oppression that this world puts upon his people and he is taking notes and writing names. Just as surely as I stand here today, I know that there is coming a day of reckoning for all the injustice, evil and cheating that goes on in this world.

It is a common practice today to get by fraud, or false advertisement, what you cannot get by any other means.

Take for instance the business of advertising for sales for just about any given business in the country. You might see an ad that says, “Come, and get it while it lasts! Certain types, models, etc. of our merchandize in 75% off, so don’t miss out. Come on down, and we might even have some good old country sausage for you if your hurry!” Now I’m not picking on any one business who may say these words, because the majority are all guilty as charged. The fact is, that many those things that are advertised are only put there for the old “bait and switch” routine. Advertisers use sales items like a carrot on a stick to get you to the store, but once you are there, the carrot disappears and the high pressure salesmen go into action.

What is the Bait and Switch? Its a tactic sellers use to get you to buy an upgrade of the original product on sale. Here’s how it works. A store will advertise a product for a low price with no intention of selling it. When you show up they will tell you how bad the advertised item is, and how the more expensive item is much better. So the store “baits” you with a sale item to get you to go to their store. Then their salespeople “switch” the item by convincing you to get the better model that isn’t on sale.

At other times you take the bait only to find out when you get there that the Sale Items are already sold out. Stores are required to have enough of an advertised item in stock to meet a reasonable customer demand. What’s a reasonable demand? Well, the store decides that.

The world is full of lies and deceit, and its getting nearly impossible to find a business that operates on complete trust and honesty. Do you trust used car salesmen? Are they all the same? Of course not. There are a lot of good honest people out there who want to do the right thing, but oftentimes they are caught in the web just like you are. Quotas are set, demands are made and if you want to keep your job, you will meet them.

That old term, “Dog eat Dog World” is truer than ever before.

But the Lord of Hosts sees it all. The cries of injustice are ever rising before him, and God will make all things right in the end.

Those who lived sumptuously, with more wealth than they could ever use, and never considered helping their fellowman, will face God and answer for their self-centeredness.

Meanwhile, James says that we need to have patience and endure all things as good soldiers of the cross. We must realize that justice will probably not come in this life, but in the world to come. God will supply your need. He will keep your in the way, but you may never get the best that this world has to offer because this world isn’t your home. Your reward is waiting on the other side.