Skip to main content

GROW UP!

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of various kinds. 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you are mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Did your mother ever tell you to grow up? What about your father or worse still, your girlfriend or wife?


James, Jesus' half-brother, is telling us to grow up. He knew what he was talking about because he had been raised in the same house as Jesus. Even though they probably shared a room, James did not become a believer until his older half-brother was resurrected from the grave. Is that amazing or what?


 James grew up with the wonder boy and never thought he could be from another kingdom. James was there when Jesus, inside a crowded house, teaching and healing, was called to come outside to his mother.


 Mary had brought her boys, the “normal ones”, to pick up her lunatic son who thought he was God in sandals. Jesus, of course, did not fall for the call and used the invitation to illustrate who his real mother and brothers were. They were his followers.


James was there. He now reflects on these events and gives us a lesson on how to mature.


My older brother once told me, right after I mentioned that he wanted to grow up quickly: "Michael, some people mature at 15, others don't even mature at 55!"


"James tells us that maturity comes at a high price. It comes with trials and problems. It comes while we persevere in each one. This action will bring a spiritual revelation. It will show you where you are in your walk with Jesus Christ. It can even show others that you don't have a walk with God.


It is funny, in a strange way, that God, in his sovereign control, allows difficulties to come our way. It may seem like he would like to protect us, as we usually do with our children. Not so. He allows and even sends problems to us.


And here James tells us their purpose. These difficulties help us in the process of maturing. So, what are you going through now? Put your nose to the grindstone with perseverance and you will come out of your problem closer to the image of the perfect man, Jesus Christ.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God Made Clothes

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:21 I have always heard the following explanation of this verse.  Because Adam and Eve had sinned, they died spiritually. They also lost the right to be in the Garden of Eden and were cursed in other ways. For example, they had made clothes out of fig leaves, but God sacrificed a lamb; thus, God shed blood and made clothes. This sacrifice of an innocent lamb symbolized what Jesus Christ would do in the distant future.  Is this what you have heard? I don't know; it seems like this interpretation is stretching what Moses wrote in the above text. The text says that  God made clothes for Adam and his wife from skins.  We see no blood, we don't know what kind of skins, nor can I imagine God making an animal sacrifice. Did God have to skin animals to make these clothes? Or could he have just made them like he had everything else in the universe just a little while earlier?  To th...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who did What?

We see Abraham lying at times. He twice told people that his wife was his sister. He was worried that someone might kill him because his old wife was so beautiful. In the text that I read today, he comes into territory ruled by Abimelek and tells the great fib. Not too long afterward, the king takes Sarah into his harem.  Lately, I have become interested in real estate investing and have learned quite a bit in the last few years. One crucial lesson acquired was that I need to treat investing as a business and not have too many sentimental attachments. Years ago, I would rent with a "charitable" mindset. I kept the rent low on my only rental because I was "helping people (friends) out." I kept that rent low for 20 years. For those years, that rent never moved from $650 a month.  Granted, we could keep the property and barely pay the maintenance and taxes, but the rent was low. It wasn't until I turned that property over to a property manager that I realized what ...
Post a Comment
Read more