“Your gold and silver have corroded… You have laid up treasure in the last days.” — James 5:3 (ESV)
When Vesuvius buried the city of Herculaneum, the ash fell for hours. There was time to run. And when they finally dug the city back out, they found a woman with gold rings still on her fingers and bracelets stacked up both arms. The archaeologists just named her the Ring Lady.
She had hours. She spent them filling her hands with the one thing that could not save her.
That is the tragedy James is standing in front of. Not that she had gold. That she died gripping it. You cannot carry a fortress into the Kingdom.
A person leaning toward the King holds the same money a different way. Open. Not because money is evil, but because their hands are already reaching for something better. And you cannot reach with a clenched fist.
Today: Open one hand. Give one thing away this week before it corrodes — a sum of money, an afternoon, the grudge you keep in a vault.