Know What You Have

Isaiah said, “We all like sheep have gone astray…” (53:6). That pretty well sums up what James says in these verses. He contrasts inconstant and darkened human ways to the uplifting, unchanging God of light. There’s a logic that seems to flow through our sheep-like brains that goes something like this: If God controls everything, how am I responsible for what happens in my life? If I fall, then God, who makes everything happen, made that happen too! James will have none of this “fuzzy logic.” He says it plainly: God doesn’t play these games (13). We are in spiritual peril because we sin (15). We sin because we entertain the idea of sin. And he makes it absolutely clear that this comes about because of our own evil desires being given reign (14). Temptation is designed to drag us down to death (16). But God does not work like this. He is described as the “Father of the heavenly lights,” the giver of all good things (17), and especially new “birth through the word of truth” (18). Look at verse 12 to see what lies in store for those who remain faithful to the end!