James 1:1-4

COMMENTS

The Book of James is a wonderful book, one of the “General Letters” addressed to all Christians, not to a specific church.  What I like about James is that it’s so practical.  We all need “theology” and to know what we believe and why; but James, like Paul, shows us how to live out our faith.  I’m anxious to hear what our Lord has to say.

 

NOTES

After the short one-verse introduction, James jumps right in with both feet:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”  (James 1:2)

I don’t know about you; but facing trials isn’t one of my favorite things to do, so it’s not a joyful thing for me to anticipate.  But look at the wording; I’m to consider it “pure joy”!  Now, when I think of pure joy, I think of my grandchildren or a beautiful day or chocolate.  Honestly, it would never occur to me to add difficult times or situations to that list.

James, however, says that it should be on the list.  Why?  Here is another Biblical cause-and-effect lesson for us.  We don’t enjoy the trials for their own sake but “because…the testing of [my] faith develops perseverance” (Verse 2).

Maybe I don’t want perseverance.  Maybe I’d rather just have a nice, easy life.  Why should I want to persevere?  Wait.  Verse 4 says that I must persevere so that “[I] may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”.  Well, I DO want to be mature and complete—Christ-like.  So, if I want to be like Christ, I must persevere through the trials that come my way in this life.

So, here’s the ultimate question:  Would I rather have an easy life or be like Jesus?

That’s a trick question because, really, no one is going to have a trouble-free life!  The real choice is whether I want to have a life in which I grumble and complain about my troubles OR have a life in which I surrender to my Lord and allow Him to make me better than I am.  That’s a life in which I am maturing and being “made complete”.

I wish that was a one-time decision; but it’s a decision I must make every time I face a new difficulty in my life.  Shouldn’t it be easy for the small things and difficult only for the major “disasters”?  That’s not the case for me.  I can be just as immature over the mess I have to clean up as I can over the rejection from someone I care about or the potentially life-altering health issue.

Some of your tests are similar to mine; some of them are much different and much more difficult.  But God’s instructions to us are the same:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers [and sisters], whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  James 1:2-4