James 1:16-18

Passage

Do not be mislead, my beloved brothers and sisters.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above while coming down from the Father of lights – with whom there is neither variation nor shadow cast by change.  After desiring, He caused us to come into existence by words of truth in order that we are some kind of first fruit of His creation.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

 James tells us that everything good in this world is from God.  Every good thing is from God.  The good that I do is from God.  The good that is done to me is from God.  The good that I see happen to others is from God.  It is easy to want the credit for the good things, but James reminds us that it is not our credit to take.  Every good thing is from God.

Why do we want the credit for the good things?  When we take the credit, what are we really doing to our witness about God?  When we don’t give credit to God, how does that affect our relationship with the Father?

Second Thought:

Verse 17 also contains a very difficult passage to translate.  We believe that this is an example of some kind of technical expression and the context of that expression has been lost.  It is kind of like the expression “crossing the Rubicon,” which means to make a decision where there is no going back.  You can get the idea of what is being said, but you don’t really know the true meaning without knowing the context of Julius Caesar in 49 BC.  The same thing is happening here in James when James speaks about the character of God.  James says that there is neither variation nor even a shadow cast by change.  I believe what James is saying is that God’s character neither changes nor has even a hint of change.  It’s a way of saying that God is absolute in His unwavering character.  We not only don’t ever get change, we don’t even get a shadow (hint) of change.

What does it mean to you that God has a resolute character?  How can this bring you comfort?

Third Thought:

God desired to create us.  Creation was not simply an act of passionate creative power.  The act of creation was a desire planned out by God.  But He created us to be the first fruits of creation.  We are the pinnacle of His creative act.  We are special in the eye of the creator.  But not only special, we are the first fruit in that we shall also know resurrection in Jesus Christ.  We are the ones in creation who can know forgiveness, repentance, and redemption.  No other part of creation can have such a relationship with God!

What does it mean to you to realize that you can have a relationship with God unlike anything else in creation?  Does that evoke a sense of awe or appreciation within you?

Passage for Tomorrow: James 1:19-21