Be patient, humble, and stand firm on the truth. How? By reading the Bible, of course!
Read / Listen to the chapter:
Read the chapter in an outlined format
Previous DIG DEEPER posts
James 5 Summary
Just like all of the chapters that have come before it, this final chapter is comprised of multiple short proverbs that give practical application to Christian theology.
Although I count seven different passages (you can see how I divided it in the outlined version dropdown), it does seem there's a common theme tying them all together:
Those who've hoarded now by mistreating others will get what they deserve;
Patiently wait for the Lord's return;
Don't grumble;
Read the Old Testament for examples of godly patience;
Stand firmly on the truth;
Pray for relief from suffering, sickness and sin (read this if you're curious about how to interpret v15);
Seek and restore those who've wandered off.
Dig Deeper
As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord (v10).
We read the Old Testament with two goals in mind. First, and most importantly, whether it's a story which showcases God's almighty power or one which demonstrates the constant unfaithfulness of His people, we always first look for how the passage is predicting and pointing the reader to find salvation in the coming Savior.
But this primary goal certainly doesn't set aside the lessons we can learn from all of the fascinating characters we read about. In fact, James commands us to read them with this in mind! Whether it's the steadfastness of Job that James mentions, or the moral failings of the Israelite kings, we gain tremendous insight on how God wants us to live.
Tomorrow we're going to begin reading some chapters from Exodus. Remember, the primary purpose of these chapter is to show how God brings His obstinate people to the Promised Land (salvation in Christ), but we're also going to learn some awesome life lessons along the way!
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The Lord is full of compassion and mercy (v11)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will give you the faith and patience to stand firm (v8)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
