James 1 ‘A Generous Father’
The book of James, likely to have
been written by Jesus’ brother, was written to encourage the Jews to continue
growing in their faith. James challenges us by saying that if we believe and
are filled with the Spirit, our actions should clearly show this and the fruits
of the Spirit should be seen. For us to truly reflect the character of Christ,
it is so important that we are overflowing with the Holy Spirit, so that we are
not striving to do ‘good works’ in our own strength. It is the power of the
Spirit that produces the fruit! James is desperate for our actions to reflect what
we have been taught, and his challenge for us is that if we have heard the
truths (specifically related to Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount)
does it not deserve a response in the way we live? (v22-25)
Verse 25 proclaims that if we focus
on the ‘perfect law that gives freedom’ and continue to do and live according
to that perfect law, we will be blessed in all that we do. How wonderful that
the most ‘perfect’ law is not one of restriction or hindrance, but one that
gives freedom!
In
verse 5, James describes an amazing facet of God. ‘...God, who gives generously
to all without finding fault,...’
(emphasis added) Our Father is generous. If
we are to respond to his love for us by re-presenting him, being generous to
all is so important. We can be generous in so many ways, be it with time,
hospitality, smiles, kind words, possessions money, service of any kind. I
think sometimes we feel we are and should be generous to those ‘in need’, and
to those who we feel particularly ‘deserve’ our generosity. However let us
challenge ourselves to be generous even to those who we feel may not need
anything in particular. God gives freely without judging anything about a
persons’ character.
(member of the staff team)