Wisdom from James 1

James 1:2-8    “If anyone is lacking in wisdom, ask God.”

The Book of James, a short letter written by someone called James is unique in our Greek scriptures.  It was probably addressed to Christians living in Alexandria, Egypt after the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  Alexandria had been a place of scholarship for both Greeks and Jews for centuries.  The people whom James addressed were trying to figure out how to live as Christians in the midst of potential persecution from the Greco-Roman culture around them and the deepening rejection of their Jewish forebearers.  The Book of James is the only example of Christian wisdom literature in our Bible.  It reads like Proverbs or Ecclesiastes.  Its simple wisdom for everyday life is grounded in faith.  This summer, maybe not every week, I will share with you some of that wisdom. 

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let that endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. 

James goes on to say that God will give wisdom to any who ask for it with confidence, never doubting or being double-minded and unstable.  We can’t be mature and complete if we waffle on right and wrong.  We can’t be faithful if we know what is right but find excuses to do what is wrong.  The challenge of our faith, the process of maturation is an ongoing struggle to become wise, knowing good and evil and choosing good.  I am glad that you are on that journey with me.  

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