Religion, Part 2

James 1:27

episkeptomai... We read it in the NIV as "to look after"... but in Greek it has a fuller idea.  First, you inspect, then you select and then you relieve.

OK - I am not a mechanic at all.  Shoot, I don't even have a car.  But what mechanics are good at - is this episkeptomai business.  They inspect the motor/engine/what-ever-is-under-the-hood, they select the dilly-ma-bobber that needs fixin', replace or repair it, thus relieving the issue.

We are told to do that for widows.  Yes, yes... we love hugging those old ladies on the third row on Sundays.  We love taking them a basket of goodies at Christmas.  But do we really love them?  Do we episkeptomai them?  Do we really inspect their lives and choose an area in which we could relieve something for them?

Maybe it's grocery shopping.  Maybe it's taking them to the doctor.  Maybe it's listening to them or reading to them.  Maybe it's taking our children to talk to them.  Maybe it's just sitting with them and relieving the loneliness.