James was quite an intense writer and I love his directness. I wonder whether the Lord would one day say to us: “Have you read what I had to say through my servant James?” Wondering what would come next we would hesitantly nod our heads. “Oh, you have?” the Lord might say. “So why have you not obeyed it?”
More direct than James put it we would not find. In this series we are going to look at some revelation from the book of James.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, 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).
Have you ever doubted that the Lord loves you? I think most of us have. What concerns me much these days though, is the fact that we hear a million times during church services that the Lord loves us, but the message portrays the Lord as a father loving his babies. It is all about His care and pampering over us. How often do we hear sermons on our responsibility in getting where He wants us to be?
In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul had to reprimand the Corinthian church about their immaturity. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly —mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?” Aren’t we the same?
The Lord often talked about ‘sons’ inheriting the Kingdom (Matthew 5:9. 44-46, Luke 6:35, John 12:36). This is the extent of His love – He wants us to develop to our fullest potential of mature sons and not to remain ineffective babies. The Olympic Games have just finished and we have witnessed the sons and daughters of society proving the extent of their responsibility to the whole world. Was it easy for these athletes to reach this point in their lives? No, they had to be tested over and over again and every time they failed, they had to return to the drawing board and improve on their previous mistakes. It was those who put in the most that got out the most. How about us in our spiritual lives?
The aim of God’s love is to protect us from His wrath as a result of disobedience and inefficiency, i.e. to prevent promises such as in Matthew 7:21-23 to come into fulfilment: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207:21-23&version=NIV1984. To believe in Jesus or to be born again is not sufficient. We need to “continue to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling,” (Philippians 2:12). Paul didn’t refer here to salvation from our inborn sinfulness. This is dealt with during our rebirth when Jesus gives us a new spirit and the right to eternal life. The salvation Paul referred to is being saved from the consequences of disobedience. We are, however, not left on our own in the process of working out our own salvation. Philippians 2:13 states “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” He expects of us to seek that which He is doing in our lives, i.e. seek holiness and knowledge of Him and seek to change to become like Jesus.
If we just live for ourselves, unaware that the Lord tries to do something with our lives in order for us to become obedient and worthwhile servants, we will never be holy, obedient and dedicated to His purposes – reaching His goals for us. This is why we are tested and put through all kinds of trials as James put it in the passage under discussion.
If an athlete decides to ignore the rigorous tests she is being put through by her coach to determine whether she is up to standard, and rather live the way that is comfortable to her, would she ever reach the goal set for her?
The Lord has a higher purpose for us and to get us there He has to get us into shape. In our next message we will look more into this passage.
Lord, I want to pass my tests.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.
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