James 1

What an incredible chapter.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must ask and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, for he will pass away like a wild flower. The sun rises with scorching heat and withers away the plant; the blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even as he goes about his business.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will be given the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 

When tempted, no one should say "God is tempting me," for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Do not be deceived, dear brothers, for every good and perfect gift comes from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, so that we might become a kind of first fruits of all he created.

Listening and doing

My dear brothers, take note of this: Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted within you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like man who looks at his face in the mirror, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to this, not forgetting what he has heard- he will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone who considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless as this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 

This chapter is jammed full of what seems to be random advice for living a Christ-like life, but if we look a little deeper into the meaning of this chapter, it is much more than that. It is also a testament to the sovereignty of Jesus! 

Being that James was Jesus' brother, I think it's really cool that he calls him "the Lord Jesus Christ" in the first verse- I don't think I would be so keen to do so unless I was absolutely convinced that my sibling was undoubtedly the Messiah. :)

The first chunk ("Consider it pure joy-all he does") seems to jump from persevering through trials to asking God for wisdom to asking and not doubting. In the past I have wondered why James changed ideas from sentence to sentence, but now, I see an important correlation. I think James is trying to say here, 

"When hard times come, you get tough. You learn how to maneuver through life better with every situation you pull through. As you become more mature, you will begin to hunger for wisdom to make the right decisions, because that's what maturity is all about-- desiring to please God. When you begin to feel the need for this wisdom, just ask God. He wants to give it to you, but you must go through those trials and become mature and complete before you are ready. When you reach this point, ask God and know that he is going to give you the wisdom you need to keep maturing. If you aren't ready for that wisdom, you will doubt that God is going to help you. If you're doubting God's generosity, you're not ready for his wisdom. Take a few more trials and learn to be a little more mature. You don't want the wisdom God has to give if you're not prepared for it. It's heavy stuff."

How does this relate to the next chunk about the poor man taking pride in his high position and the rich man taking pride in his low position?

I think it all has to do with the idea that trials, humble circumstances, or whatever you want to call "I-think-the-grass-is-greener-over-there" situations aren't always what you think they are. We are always trying to run away from hardships, thinking that if we are ever faced with something unpleasant it's not God's will for our lives. James is saying that this is contrary to what Jesus teaches-- He wants us to value humility before we value an easy life full of money and worldly success. There are three definitions of humble:

1. not proud our haughty; not arrogant or assertive

2. reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference  or submission

3. ranking low in a hierarchy or scale insignificant, unpretentious. Not costly or luxurious.

I think of Jesus when I hear all three of those definitions. Jesus requires these qualities of us as well, no matter what personality we have or how ambitious we may be. I think this is a problem for many of us, and I'm not just talking about money. Anything that makes us feel like we are important and anything that we prize more than we should robs us of a humble spirit and causes us to wither away like a wild flower. Think of a those yellow flowers kids always pick from the weeds in the yards and bring to their mothers. The blossom begins to fade hours after it is picked, useless and ugly. But the dirt under the weeds remains season after season, humble, but unchanging and reliable. Are we dandelions or dirt? 

Calling it a night... I'll finish this another day.