Surviving while Scattered: Test or Temptation? [James Bible Study]
James 1:12-18
It is amazing how becoming a parent has led me to say statements I never thought I would hear myself utter. Most of these involve some sort of variation of “don’t eat that X”, “you can’t X” or my personal favorite..” WHY would you X?!” The objects when using these statements can involve anything from banana chunks that have been under the couch since the time of Moses, kitchen tables, razor-sharp items, lava-hot items, or live animals.
I am convinced that most of the time children do not even make an attempt to follow directions. They always seem to be walking that invisible tightrope that hangs between disobeying and obeying. I think they consume every last ounce of their seemingly infinite energy scheming ways to obey just enough so that technically they aren't disobeying, but they also aren't exactly following directions that well either.
Now, although I have rules set in place for my children, and although they do not always do the best job at following those rules, I can honestly state that I never want them to disobey me. I am assuming, to all the people reading this that are parents, you would never want your child to disobey you either. We have rules in place for a reason. Their protection, our protection, and having a house that remains not on fire..are just a few reasons we have rules in place. We as parents never want our children to disobey. I know none of this is groundbreaking, but there is a point in me saying all this.
God has rules in place for us for a reason. Depending on the rule, it might be for our benefit, or His, or both. Regardless of the reason why, as God’s children we should be doing our best to obey His rules. Our goal should never be to just obey enough to not be in sin, because we're really missing the point if that's why we obey. I spent years in a terrible church that promoted this kind of thinking. All rules and no love. A church that demanded carbon copies of what they said every Christian should be. The result of this is a lot of Pharisees. A lot of people appear to be hitting all the marks of a “good Christian” on the outside, but on the inside, they are just trying to simply not sin. Our walk with God is so much deeper than just not doing X so that He won’t punish us or be mad at us. It would certainly behoove us to behave ourselves in a way that is congruent with God’s will for us, but at the same time, we cannot lose focus of the bigger picture.
The bigger picture is this: God wants us to WANT to obey.
Don’t get me wrong, obey anyway, even if it doesn't make sense. But living for God is not only about checking that box that says “ I DID NOT do X today, so I am in good standing with God”. On the other hand, as I learned after leaving that awful church, it’s also not about checking that box that says “I DID X today, so I am in good standing with God”. God is not karma. God is not up there putting a smiley sticker by our name when we obey, and a frowny sticker by our name when we disobey. God is a living breathing being, and He cares a lot more about what is going on in our hearts, than just robotic obedience. What does all of this have to do with our main text in James? Let’s look at this passage of scripture, and I will explain.
James 1:12-18
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
There are a few things going on in this portion of scripture, but the main takeaway I want you to notice is this: God will never tempt us to sin against Him.
Just like we as parents never want our children to disobey us, God does not want us to disobey Him. We as God’s children live on this side of heaven with two conflicting realities:
1. Our sinful desire to sin
2. God’s desire for us to obey.
The good news is, that by His grace, we have the ability to follow after Him and obey because He has made us a new creature in Christ. However, while we still have this body, we may not be a slave to sin anymore, but our natural tendency will lean that way if we do not constantly keep ourselves in check. God will correct us in love of course, and help keep us in check. (Proverbs 3:11-12)
Since God wants us to obey, He is not going to purposefully cause us to sin. He may, however, see how willing you are to obey Him. Imagine this scenario: You tell your 8-year-old son or daughter they can play their video game for one hour while you do some housework. After that, they are supposed to turn it off and do something else. You, of course, are keeping track of time but leave a timer in their room to tell them when to shut it all off. You have 2 options when that timer goes off. You can either go into their room the second it goes off and tell them to shut off the game, or you can continue your housework and see if they shut it off on their own without you having to make them. After all, you already told them what to do.
For me, it is much more rewarding to see my children do the right thing and follow my directions, than for me to have to rule them with an iron fist and micromanage their every move. I could take away every opportunity for my kids to disobey, but I would rather them just obey, even when the means to disobey are available right before them.
The same goes for our Heavenly Father. He doesn't usually just remove our means to disobey Him, but rather, He patiently watches as we decide if we love Him enough to obey or not. (Exodus 16:4)
A really good example of this, and an often misunderstood passage, is found in Genesis 22. This is the classic story where God “tests” Abraham by asking Him to sacrifice his son Issac. Now, is God asking Abraham to murder his son? I mean, to some, this may appear to be the case. But I can assure you, that is not an accurate way to describe this event. Very briefly, here are the main takeaways from this:
God doesn't tempt us to do wrong, He tests us to see if we will do right.
What is really going on in this story is God wanted to see if Abraham really believed him or not. He made a promise to Abraham that a great nation would come from him. If Abraham’s son had died, this promise would have been unfulfilled. Sometimes in life, God might allow us to be in situations where we have to make choices that either affirm we believe in the promises of God, or we affirm that we do not believe in Him.
This story is far more of a dramatic situation than any of us will likely ever encounter. But here is one thing that may hit close to home, because it does for me. When you, a child of God, think about dying, does it make your heart beat faster? Does it cause some anxiety? You can call me a terrible Christian all you want, but I’d be lying to you if I told you that when thinking about death, I don't feel this sense of anxiety. I get it, it’s inconsistent with my core beliefs. You don't need to tell me, I am well aware. I truly believe with all my heart that because I am saved, because I am in Christ, the moment I close my eyes in death I will be with Jesus. So the question is, do I really believe God like I say I do? Do you see the inconsistency?
What about you, my friend? The Lord says if you are saved, you are saved forever, and you have no reason to fear death because the moment you die you will go to heaven. So with this in mind, do you ever get anxious when you think about dying?
We all lack in some way or another. We all tend to doubt God sometimes when He has done nothing to earn our distrust. In fact, He has done so much for many of us to gain our confidence. And yet, we still doubt Him from time to time. Brother or sister, let’s both agree that when we are put in these situations where we have to choose to believe God or not believe Him…we make an extra big effort to show Him we truly believe Him. Deal?
2. Abraham knew he and Issac were going to return
This was not a command to murder. If so, that would be against what God commands us alreay. God is not going to try and get us to do something wrong. Abraham, of course, knew this. He boldly states that he and the child would return after worshiping the Lord. Abraham was fully committed and fully obedient. He knew that his job was to listen to God and that God would never violate something He commands or declares will come to pass.
So friends, remember, every good and perfect gift is from God. He is always good. There is no darkness in Him. He wants us to obey Him, and He wants us to be Holy because He is Holy. He will never ask us to do something that violates His standards. He will, however, test us to see if we will obey Him and if we really believe Him. Temptations to do wrong stem from our own sinful desires, but with God’s help, we can withstand those temptations.
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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English
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