January 14 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 14—James 1:16–18

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸ Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creation.

Devotional:

Verse 16—"Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers"—seems to apply both to what came before in vv. 13–15 and to what follows in these verses. God is so thoroughly holy that he cannot even be tempted himself, let alone tempt others. But at the same time God is so thoroughly benevolent that he won't even think of doing his redeemed children harm. Just the opposite. William Cowper wrote: "Behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face." As his redeemed children go through the trials of this life, God's providences may seem to frown on them, but that doesn't mean that God himself is. He is always "the Father of lights" and with him "there is no variation or shadow due to change." None whatsoever. We can be two-faced towards God, but he will never be two-faced towards us. He is "the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Accordingly, not only does he never do his children harm, but also he always does them only good. As Matthew Henry says,

We should take particular care not to err in our conceptions of God … God is not, cannot be, the author of anything that is evil; but must be acknowledged as the cause and spring of everything that is good.

Owing to the fact that the living and true God is infinitely, eternally, and unchangeably who he is, we can be sure that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" (v. 17). I am continually convicted by my own lamentably enormous ingratitude. God is so lavish in his generosity that it's all too easy to take his gifts for granted, as if that's just the way things should be. Do you count your blessings day-by-day? Do you consciously give thanks for them to God?

Verse 17 actually uses two different words translated "gift" when it says, "every good gift and every perfect gift…" What this means is that all God's giving to us is good and all God's gifts to us are perfect. All this is highly significant because the Holy Spirit speaking through James is still discussing the believer facing trials. He has never changed the subject. Even the tests God gives us will prove in the end to be good and perfect! But it is precisely in these trials, whether of pain or of pleasure, that we are most tempted either to question or to lose sight of God's character. Do not be deceived. Ever seek and ever cling to a clear, biblical conception of God and his character. It will help to anchor you and stabilize your walk.

High among the evidences of God's good and perfect gifts to his people is the grace of regeneration, the new birth—v. 18—"Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

How good is the God we adore,
our faithful unchangeable Friend!
His love is as great as his pow'r,
and knows neither measure nor end!

'Tis Jesus the First and the Last,
whose Spirit shall guide us safe home,
we'll praise him for all that is past,
and trust him for all that's to come. (Joseph Hart)

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