To Encourage You

James 3:16-17 “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

Throughout the Bible, the lives we lead are talked about as a “way.”  For example, Jesus talked about the narrow way that leads to life and the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). In another place, Jesus told the disciples that He was about to die, leave them, and go to His Father in heaven.  He then told them that they knew the way to the place He was going.  To this Thomas said “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” To this Jesus replied “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:4-6). 

So, we’re all on a path through life. Some are going one way, and some another.  But the Bible doesn’t just tell us there are two ways, it gives us lots of pointers to show us which way we are on.  Throughout the Scriptures there are both warning signs and directional signs for us to see. One of them is found in the verses above from the book of James.  James turns on the four-way flashers, as it were, concerning a certain path.  He calls that path “where jealousy and selfish ambition exist.”  He tells us if that’s where we find ourselves, then we will find ourselves in a place where not only these things exist, but also “disorder and every vile practice.”  If we’re wise, then, whenever we see signs of jealousy and selfish ambition, we’ll turn around and get off that path.  And the fact is, most of the world is on such a path. Just listen to the language of our day. How often do you hear talk about how it’s all about you – your goals, your ambitions, your satisfaction, your happiness.  Then there are the words about “self,” like self-esteem and self-awareness – we see them everywhere today paraded as great virtues, while at their heart they are generally nothing more than efforts to disguise self-centeredness in virtuous language.  James, and actually the Holy Spirit through James, is telling us that selfishness in any form is a place where evil lurks, and anyone on a self-centered path will sooner or later find all manner of “disorder,” i.e., confusion, and vileness in its various forms.  Anyone on that path is on a foolish and self-destructive path, i.e., the broad way that leads to destruction.

 So where should we be? What’s the wise path look like? And how can we know if we are on it?  Thankfully, James speaks to this as well. It’s a way that is marked by purity, as the Bible describes purity. It’s a path marked by thoughts, words, and actions that are “peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”  In other words, as we walk through life and we get to one of the many decision points we meet up with every day, think of these decision points as nothing more than forks in the road.  As we look down the various options available to us do we see the four-way flashers that James talks about such as jealousy and selfish ambition, or is it a path of wisdom marked by the signs of wisdom laid out for us in God’s Word? 

Life is hard and the path of life is fraught with danger.  For the believer to navigate his or her path through life the Bible is a precious map provided to give us guidance.  For the unbeliever who cares nothing for what God has to say, that’s a path He has given us freedom to choose, but He loves us enough to warn us over and over again of its dangers. 

So, what path are you choosing? What path are you on?  There’s really only one Way to know, it’s the Way given to us by the Way, the Truth and the Life, i.e., the Way Whose name is Jesus, the Son of the living God.