Who is Old Camel Knees?

James, the writer of the book of James and the brother of Jesus, was known as Old Camel Knees because his knees were reportedly calloused because he spent so much time on them in prayer. His core belief about prayer is from James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”.

The book of James has a sister book in the Old Testament – it is Proverbs. I find that intriguing, don’t you? I love when the Old Testament and New Testament come together and show us a bigger picture of God.

The book of James has a sister section in the New Testament – it is the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. We see echoes of Jesus teaching in James.

Most intriguing of all is that we can see Jesus in the book of James. James gives us many imperatives (commands to live by). These imperatives describe or give us a beautiful picture of our Savior who came and lived them out. For example:

• Jesus faced trials of many kinds. James 1:2
• Jesus lived in humble circumstances. James 1:9
• Jesus was tempted. James 1:13
• Jesus is the good and perfect gift from above. James 1:17
• Jesus did not show favoritism. James 2:1
• Jesus praised His Father with His tongue. James 3:9
• Jesus was pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit.
• He was impartial and sincere. James 3:17
• Jesus followed God’s plans. James 4:13
• Jesus raised sick people up. James 5:15
• Jesus prayed. James 5:16
• Jesus turned sinners from the errors of their ways and saved them from death.
• He covered over a multitude of sins. James 5:20

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