January 2 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 2: James 1:1

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Devotional:

It’s not unusual for us to begin conversations with words that can be taken lightly, but that is never true of God’s inspired Word. So we do well to notice that the human author of this Bible-book is James, the younger brother of Jesus. But how does he identify himself? As "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Isn’t it striking how James both puts his brother Jesus on a par with God and also identifies him as both Lord and Christ? It’s not unusual for younger brothers to look up to their big brothers, but how many actually worship and serve them as divine? This is all the more striking when you remember John 7:5, "for not even his brothers believed in him." James had been just as dead in sin, just as averse to the Light, and just as enslaved to iniquity as every other person born by ordinary generation. But somewhere along the line, God, who is rich in mercy, laid hold of James. In sovereign grace, Jesus sought and saved him. The Holy Spirit gave him a new heart.

At one point, Martin Luther feared that this letter denied the gospel and should be regarded as "an epistle of straw." But his fears were misplaced, for this very James welcomed Paul to Jerusalem (Gal. 1:18–19) and insisted to the first general assembly of the church that Paul was right on target in his understanding of the gospel (Acts 15:13–21).

From the upshot James insists in this letter that he is literally the willing slave of Jesus, his Lord and Christ (Prophet, Priest, and King). That’s how this letter should be read, and that’s how every genuine believer should feel.

Is that your commitment? Do you humbly worship Christ as God the Son—the second Person of the Trinity? Are you willingly subjecting yourself to him as your Lord and Savior? Are you humbly receiving every Word of your heavenly Prophet? Are you entrusting yourself wholly to the saving work of your heavenly Priest? Are you seeking ever to do the will of your heavenly King? The amazing grace of God in Christ triumphed in James. It can triumph in you. It can also triumph in your unsaved loved ones. Ask him right now.

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.