Our text this Sunday, James 1:9–11, is short and penetrating. It’s the first of several times throughout the letter that James will visit the topic of poverty and riches and the effect wealth can have on our hearts. He warns us not to get caught up in worldly pursuits that most certainly will perish like the temporary beauty of a flower. Now, we may be prone to write ourselves out of this text and think that James is talking to other people. But he’s not. This text is for all of us, no matter our station in life!
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 that our lives must not be marked by an idolatrous love for the things of this world because they are passing away. I think that’s the heart of what James is getting at in our text. It’s a call to set our mind and hope on things above, where Christ is, because we have died in him and have been raised in him and our lives our now hidden in him.
Brad