Grasping for Gifts
From James 1 – 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 [c]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
"Had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are," focuses Spurgeon in Morning and Evening, "divine love would have put you there. You are," he insists, "placed by God in the most suitable circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, "Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows." Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good."
As much as we want riches, or comfort, or prestige, I suspect we more readily accede to Spurgeon's counsel on these fronts than with respect to spiritual maturity and gifts. Does not Scripture call us to earnestly desire the greater gifts? Yet James, with all of his forthright zeal, would not have us move from desire to discontent.
His "so" at the beginning of James 1:19 is just such a steadying insistence. The memorable trifecta of being swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath is a result we want, often because it makes us wise and respectable among men. But James's REASON we are so poised has to do with the source of blessings, including spiritual maturity and gifts, according to verses 17 and 18. They come from God, not as our expedient answer to today's dilemma. The same God who fathered the light in Genesis is still in the business of enlightening and gifting according to His time and His Word.
Desire the gift on the spot to be more patient, or more loving, or more discerning? Do we think we want it more than Father, Son, and Holy Spirit desire to give these good gifts? James won't allow for such a possibility. His "that" closing out verse 18 reminds us of the purpose of God's gifts, THAT we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures, that we might advance and advertise the most glorious and eternal of all brands, His. If we want to mature at least partly for our reputation and, more charitably, for the benefit of those around us, how much more is the Divine desire that we be genuinely loving, patient, and self-controlled as the prototype for what Christ's nature indwelling men is like?
Our fallback, then, beginning to understand and rely upon the sovereignty of God for spiritual maturity is to actually be TOO passive. I'm waiting on the gift of patients, we might say. Meanwhile, I'll be as rash as I please. Let it not be so! Even while we beseech the Father of Lights for His nature more evident in us, let us wait with a knowledge that He has already given His Spirit as an earnest toward what we will become. Let us wait in gratitude for the ultimate gift He has already given on the cross.
19 [c]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
"Had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are," focuses Spurgeon in Morning and Evening, "divine love would have put you there. You are," he insists, "placed by God in the most suitable circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, "Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows." Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good."
As much as we want riches, or comfort, or prestige, I suspect we more readily accede to Spurgeon's counsel on these fronts than with respect to spiritual maturity and gifts. Does not Scripture call us to earnestly desire the greater gifts? Yet James, with all of his forthright zeal, would not have us move from desire to discontent.
His "so" at the beginning of James 1:19 is just such a steadying insistence. The memorable trifecta of being swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath is a result we want, often because it makes us wise and respectable among men. But James's REASON we are so poised has to do with the source of blessings, including spiritual maturity and gifts, according to verses 17 and 18. They come from God, not as our expedient answer to today's dilemma. The same God who fathered the light in Genesis is still in the business of enlightening and gifting according to His time and His Word.
Desire the gift on the spot to be more patient, or more loving, or more discerning? Do we think we want it more than Father, Son, and Holy Spirit desire to give these good gifts? James won't allow for such a possibility. His "that" closing out verse 18 reminds us of the purpose of God's gifts, THAT we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures, that we might advance and advertise the most glorious and eternal of all brands, His. If we want to mature at least partly for our reputation and, more charitably, for the benefit of those around us, how much more is the Divine desire that we be genuinely loving, patient, and self-controlled as the prototype for what Christ's nature indwelling men is like?
Our fallback, then, beginning to understand and rely upon the sovereignty of God for spiritual maturity is to actually be TOO passive. I'm waiting on the gift of patients, we might say. Meanwhile, I'll be as rash as I please. Let it not be so! Even while we beseech the Father of Lights for His nature more evident in us, let us wait with a knowledge that He has already given His Spirit as an earnest toward what we will become. Let us wait in gratitude for the ultimate gift He has already given on the cross.
Comments
Post a Comment