James 5:19–20: “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

August 8th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

We notice that James uses the term brethren here, which means this is referring to fellow believers who have wandered off the path of God. The Greek word translated wanders is the same word Jesus used when He told the parable about a sheep that “goes astray” in Matthew 18:12: “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?” There is a tendency among all of God’s sheep to stray, to wander away, and get into trouble. This could be anything from being led away from the gospel by false doctrine to being deeply caught in willful disobedience. Mike Yaconelli wrote about it this way in the magazine The Wittenburg Door:

I live in a small, rural community. There are lots of cattle ranches around here, and every once in a while a cow wanders off and gets lost . . . Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and chances are he will reply, “Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on a tuft of green grass right next to a hole in the fence. It then sees another tuft of green grass on the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on that one and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.

Many unsuspecting believers are in the process of nibbling their way down the wrong path. The attractions and pleasures of this world seem so real and enticing, moving us just a little away from God, until we are suddenly in the middle of a complete disaster.

God’s design for His church is that we encourage and restore those who are struggling. The Apostle Paul wrote something similar to the Galatians: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently” (6:1, NIV). What an awesome and wonderful responsibility, and what a blessing to know that “he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death.” This is an astonishing call on every believer’s life. And someday we might need someone to do the same for us.

“LORD, we desire to stay close to You this day, so please keep us there we ask in Jesus’ name.”