James 1:27

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of {our} God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, {and} to keep oneself unstained by the world.

     One year in science class, we had a student teacher who was trying to teach us about liquid compounds. He told us that the beaker was full of unknown amounts of two liquids: white grape juice and urine. He then offered extra credit points to anyone who would drink it. No one would go near it. They were not going to have a drink. It did not matter if there was only .0001 percent urine; nobody would drink anything that had even a hint of urine in it.

     When drinking things, Americans are pretty picky about what pollutes their water. They want to make sure that unsafe chemicals are taken out. They do not want dirt or mold or really anything other than water mixed in. If people were to find out their drinking water was contaminated, they would be up in arms against the city water company that allowed this to happen. There is no room for anything less than pure water.

     This principle applies to godliness as well. When God demanded that we be pure. He is as picky about our lives as anyone would be about the grape juice mentioned above. Any filthiness is too much. We need to make sure that we do not try to rationalize sin in our lives by saying, “Oh it is a small sin. God will not really care, will He?” He does care. Just like us, He will not tolerate any impurity from those who will join Him in Heaven.

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of {our} God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, {and} to keep oneself unstained by the world.