Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
I was reading Ecclesiastes yesterday. Chapter 1 begins, “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher…” “Everything is meaningless.” I pondered this attitude of Solomon’s wondering what it means. As I thought about it, I realized that compared to being in the presence of God, everything in this life actually is meaningless.
God’s values are not man’s values. We saw this in the words and actions of Jesus as we studied John’s gospel. Jesus is not from around here, a fact made evident by his the way he talked and what he did.
I believe the Bible is consistent on this point. It seems so in this passage from James. He wants us to be “mature and complete, not lacking anything.” It is up to us, his readers, to decipher what “thing” he is talking about!
In his opening statement, he equates “pure joy” with “trials of many kinds.” It sounds like what he is saying is that earthly trials are meaningless. Does this fit with what we read in 2 Peter yesterday? Through the divine power God has given us we are able to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
There is a picture forming here that echoes throughout the Bible. Loving God above all else and our neighbor as ourselves is what God values. (Matthew 22:36-40) Everything else that happens is stuff that feels meaningful in this world, but from the eternal perspective is not.
Application: Keeping God’s perspective foremost in our mind requires effort and practice. Persevering is worth the effort.
Food for Thought: If you were to make a list of the things God does not want us to be lacking in, what would you include?
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A list of the areas God does not want us to lack in… that’s a tall order for 8am in the morning. I’ll start with not lacking being generous for we can not out give God.
I’ll let the next person add to the list.
Good point Rob. I will add one more… I do not think He wants us lacking wisdom. There are many proverbs regarding wisdom, of particular interest would be Proverbs 1:7 and Proverbs 9:10. There is much wisdom literature in Scripture and then there is the wisdom which is Scripture. 1 Cor 1: 30 tells us Jesus “became to us wisdom from God.” Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit given to us that adds wisdom. And then there is James 1:5. It appears He does not want us lacking wisdom.
Well done! Is there more??? 🙂
Kindness, understanding, patience, self control, ect.