"for him it is sin"

"Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." (James 4.17)

I came across these words this morning. They reminded me of thoughts I'd been having over the past several months, wondering if God might expect more of us the more spiritually awake we are. Apparently so.

That shouldn't be a startling discovery, I suppose. We naturally expect more of children as they mature. And there's other similar biblical teachings, about teachers being judged more strictly, for example, and "to whom much is given, much will be required." But I guess it's one thing to accept that teaching and another to see "much will be required" actually happening. To see God's hand heavy on someone, even when that person is actually doing only what most people do, what most people seem to get away with, without God's resistance. The reality that God might actually insist on our living the truths that we have been shown, when others don't seem to be held to those same standards.

Perhaps this goes along with Jesus' harsh warnings about hypocrisy.