January 6 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 6—James 1:4–5

⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Devotional:

Verse 4 says, "let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete…" In other words, unless we do respond the right way, we won’t receive the spiritual profit for which God intends our trials. That sounds good in theory. But when trials actually do harry and oppress us, it seems like a pretty tall order to rejoice in them and to resolve to press on in steadfastness. It’s counter-intuitive; it seems unnatural. And, in fact, it is unnatural; it’s supernatural. We need ability beyond that which we have in ourselves. And so, without changing the subject from responding to trials, James immediately summons us to pray, "let him ask God…". Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. … apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4–5). You can’t rightly handle trials on your own. So pray!

What we need above all so that we respond rightly to trials and thus receive the spiritual profit that God can give through them, is wisdom. Look again at verse 5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…". For years, my family and I have started most days with a brief reading from the book of Proverbs, so that we’ve cycled through the book many times. Proverbs contrasts two ways of life—the way of wisdom and the way of folly. By nature, we are each fools, but by God’s grace in Christ we can be made wise. But we need to act on the fact that wisdom comes from the all-wise God. Pray, and in particular, ask God to make you wise by his Spirit and through his Word.

And what great encouragement God gives for us to ask! "…ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." Christianity is not merely an ideology to which we assent, or a code of ethics by which we live; it’s a living relationship with the living God! And the living God is the giving God. God "gives generously"! We may fear that we’re the wrong type or class or pedigree of believer. But the living God "gives generously to all"! We may fear, when we come to him with the same request for the umpteenth time, that he’ll reject us for our persistent weakness and failure. But the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Father by grace through faith in Christ, "gives generously to all without reproach." Knowing all that there is to know about us, he has sent his Son to be our Savior. "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Rom 8:32).

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer. (Joseph Scriven)^†

^†Click here for the full hymn and tune.

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