his hour of death. All of us have a strong tendency to forget the brev ity of life. Greenery does not last long in the land of Palestine. The heat soon withers it. James may be referring to the passage of Isa. 40:6-7 which gives us another beautiful picture of life's short tin sel strength. All of the "important" things will some day perish (II Pet. 3:11). You see, a man's posses sions and position are absolutely subject to human change. You may have all the money in the world but if you do not have Jesus Christ you have lost everything life can possibly bring you! There is promised wisdom for daily living to those who ask per sistently, confidently, and accord ing to God's perfect will. There is absolutely no basis for expecting anything from the Lord except if done in this fashion. James fully acknowledges the economic dis tinctions of human life. He makes no attempt to eliminate these classes, but simply to introduce an equalizing factor. The all-important thing is common faith which both rich and poor have in Jesus Christ. God is more interested in the state of the mind than in the things that pertain to the satisfaction of the human body and material posses sions. In this affluent society there are probably not as many people who are as poor as there were in James' day. The danger is that materialism latches on to the believers in such a way that their service for Christ is seriously crippled. While they may not think of themselves as wealthy, yet many, regardless of age, tend to live beyond their means. If we are not careful we will begin to treasure things in life.
The wisdom of this world will pass away as well as everything we have worked for, unless it is lodged completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful to know the Lord and to be found in Him regardless of our status on the social ladder. God will balance the scales. In ev ery possible way, no matter what we have, we are to consider it a stewardship before the Lord. Let us be careful to use well for Him that with which we have been en trusted. As they were scattered abroad through all the earth, the people of Israel had the Epistle of James specifically directed to them. They were instructed to find content ment in the realization that even amid sore trials they could experi ence joy because of their utmost faith in Christ. When things start going difficult it's easy to try to find someone else on whom to put the blame. We get a picture of that in this study which encompasses Jas. 1:12-17. Soon after the conversion of St. Augustine he was walking down the street in the city Milan, Italy. There he accosted a prostitute whom he had known from his earl ier days as a vile sinner. She called but he would not answer. He kept right on walking. "Augustine," she called again. "It is I!" Without slowing down, but with the assur ance of Christ in his heart, he tes tified, "Yes, but it is no longer I." At that moment he was enduring temptation. Although young in the faith, he knew something of a so licitation to evil and the way of victory over temptation. His reply, "It is no longer I," expresses a re alization that he had a new power available to combat the forces of Page 49
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