January 4 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 4: James 1:2ndash;4

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Devotional:

If verse 1 sets its tone, then verses 2–4 state the theme of the epistle of James. Verse 2 begins, "count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…" That seems like a slap in the face. To "count" means to consider or to regard trials a certain way. What way? With "all joy…"! What? Is this God’s way of saying, "Don’t worry; be happy"? What’s more, this is a command. Thus, to fall short is sin. How our impatience and irritability expose our iniquity and need of God’s forgiveness and cleansing!

But this command doesn’t hang in thin air. See how verse 2 identifies to whom it’s addressed, "my brothers." That is, God means this for those whom he has justified and adopted through faith in Christ’s atoning work. Notice that God does not say "if" you meet trials, he says "when" you meet trials. Some say that faith in Christ will make you "healthy and wealthy" (for some mysterious reason, they tend to omit "and wise"). But God says that believers will "meet trials" and that they should make a conscious choice to evaluate their trials with the eyes of faith. Therefore, they should rejoice.

Verses 3–4 tell us why we should rejoice—"³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." God is resolved to make his children "perfect and complete," entirely conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). This work will be finished only at the resurrection; we will be sinlessly perfect—both body and soul—in glory. But God’s work of sanctification doesn’t start at the resurrection. It is rather the "full effect" of "steadfastness," of patient endurance or perseverance. And so God works steadfastness in his redeemed children in the here and now in order ultimately to perfect them.

As R. C. Sproul likes to say, "Right now counts forever." But what instrument does God use toward this end? Look again at these verses. God uses "trials of various kinds" so as to "test the faith" of his redeemed children so as to produce "steadfastness" so as to make them "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." You should rejoice when you face trials because you know that the Father who so loved sinners that he sacrificed his only begotten Son is wisely and lovingly doing what is best for his redeemed children.

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