Riches

I've been reading the book of James for the past couple weeks. I really like that book a lot. What's been sticking out to me the most is all the talk about how being poor is a good thing. "Christians who are poor should be glad because God has honored them..." (1:9) "Hasn't God chosen the poor to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the kingdom..." (2:5) "Look here you rich people, weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away and your fine clothes are moth eaten rags." (5:1-2) After living and working in places like Kencot in Kingston, Jamaica or the Kenyan desert you really understand how these verses are true. As the rich American I've always understood God as the provider, so I looked at the lives of these "poor people" and could not fathom how they could trust God. They are sleeping with 6 people in a house the size of my bedroom and walking miles for drinking water on a daily basis. But they are rich in faith, a faith that riches has robbed from me. I long to go deeper and see a new side of Christ I've been missing out on.