I love the book of James in the Bible. There are only five short chapters in the entire book. But, each chapter is packed with great, sensible advice for living our lives. According to my bible, The Book, "the book of James was written to Jewish Christians in order to provide them with some practical instructions in the Christian life. It contains many short, proverbial sayings and reflects in a remarkable way the teachings of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount." You may have deduced from my previous posts that I like practical, direct instruction. Theory is great. Give me facts and concrete directions.
The first chapter of James is entitled "Enduring Trials and Temptations." I don't like this part of the chapter. The premise is that when your life is full of difficulties and temptations that you should be happy because your patience has a chance to grow. Friends, you know that you should never pray that someone learns patience -- there is only one way to "learn" patience and that's through trials and difficulties. The chapter gets better (I know, who am I to decide what's good in the bible) as the word of God assures us that if we desire to know what God wants us to do, just ask him. He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom. That statement blows my mind just a little. If God is ready to give me a bountiful supply of wisdom just for the asking, I am asking! See, practical directions on how to get wisdom.
Chapter two is entitled "Do not despise the poor." None of us think about despising the poor, but James makes this a more relative statement when he warns us that if we treat a well-dressed man with rings on his fingers with respect and ignore the man dressed in threadbare clothes then we are sinning in God's eyes. More practical knowledge. Don't fawn over the rich guy. Make sure we are looking at everyone the way God looks at them -- very hard for mere humans to do.
The third chapter is entitled "Control the tongue." These quotes are amazing, "If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way." Another quote "So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do." Additional quote "...but no human being can tame the tongue." Because we are imperfect humans, James knew that we would be unable to completely control our tongues. I think about this quote every day. Sometimes I am able to control my words, sometimes not. Constant battle.
The fourth chapter is entitled "Draw Near to God." I love this chapter. It tells us to give ourselves humbly to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Unbelievable that the God that created the universe and sent our savior to die for us would draw close to us just because we need him. This is a very encouraging chapter.
Chapter five is entitled "Admonitions to be Patient and Faithful." This chapter encourages us to keep praying about our troubles and that we should rejoice about our blessings. Also included in this chapter is the direction to admit our faults to each other and pray for each other. This is one of my favorite verses "The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results." Wow. More practical insight from James.
I read my bible each night and I try to follow a logical pattern of reading, but I find myself returning to the book of James very often, because I like what James is telling me. Sometimes I think James had me in mind when he penned his words 2000 years ago.
Do you have a favorite book, chapter, verse that inspires or challenges you? I would love for you to share that information with me. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope that you are blessed today.
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