James Ch. 1

What a Chapter! I think I could spend a month digesting it. But what stands out this morning is not what has hit me before. I know that life is more about addition than it is about subtraction. But at the same time it seems that Christianity is relegated to subtracting things from our lives. It's almost as though we sometimes measure holiness by how much sin we remove from our lives. For me it was easy to get caught in this trap. But today I'm challenging that thought in my life. While I know I have sin and I'm not attempting to remove the idea that I must stay away from it, I know that the Christian life can't be just about that. Where there is subtraction there must be addition. If someone wants to lose weight they subtract certain foods from there life but it can't stop there. I have seen that scenario so many times, I've even tried it, but it never works. Why? Because we forget the addition part. Lifestyle change. In order to have a real change than we must add something to our lives as well, exercise. I think we all know this but honestly I think it's harder to add than it is to subtract. Think about it, subtraction requires us to stop doing something but addition requires us change the way we do things.

All of this random thought because I read from James 1 this morning, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may become mature and complete, not lacking anything."

For me, I think I have spent too much of my life trying to subtract things from my life thinking that will bring holiness and keep me from trouble and make my life complete. But James tells us that a complete life and a mature life only comes from trials we face. It's not about how much sin I have subtracted from my life that will mature me. The complete life, the life lacking nothing is one that involves addition. Trials coming into our lives will do one of two things. It will either make us bitter or better. May I today count my trials as joy because the addition of perseverance in my life will mature me and leave me lacking nothing. That is my prayer today for all of my friends.