Crown of Life

 *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.

James 1:12–17.

God promises you the crown of life if you love HIm. Loving God means having a relationship with Him that includes spending time getting to know Him, listening, expressing joy and gratitude, being obedient, and trusting Him when you are tested. These things strengthen the depth of relationship you have with God and therefore lead to growing in the steadfastness that James is keen for us all to know. As you can probably tell, this is not an easy task. In fact it takes extensive training, pain and discomfort to become steadfast in your relationship with God and to gain the crown of life. Like anything worth having it will take time, effort and require sacrifice just like trying to gain any other crown or trophy. People compete, practice and dedicate their time, even their lifestyle to gain trophies and crowns. The highlight of their lives, the momentous achievement of a lifetime, worth the discomfort and sacrifice to get the glory of the competitive crown. Yet how long does an Earthly crown or trophy last? The attainment of the prize requires years of discipline, dedication and self-denial, but the glory lasts only moments in comparison. 

Living to attain the crown of life also requires sacrifice, effort, and discomfort. It takes a lifetime of dedication, discipline and self-denial to truly follow God and to love Him. It takes a lot of practice, mistakes, trials and triumphs to gain steadfastness and the crown of eternal life. This crown is not just a transient trophy or a briefly held prize - It is an eternal reality. A symbol of a faithful life lived, a promotion to authority and a well-earned, everlasting prize, and you can have it! The question is, are you willing to live your life to attain it? 

It takes training to live a steadfast, God-honouring life. That is the only way you will get this crown of life, are you training yourself to get it? 

Everyone has something that they are training for in life, whether you realise it or not. You have something(s) that you plough your time, effort and money into, things that you are dedicated to and upon which you base your lifestyle and decisions on. These things can be healthy goals, or things that aren’t. Either way, you can become fixated and overwhelmed with what living to achieve these things really means. Sometimes these goals can end up becoming pits as the desire or achievement is never satisfied or fulfilled. It can become an endless, tiresome cycle of desiring bigger and better and can lead to anxiety, worry, frustration, feelings of ‘not good enough’. It can seem like an endless tireless treadmill. So, I wonder, today, what would you say you are living for? Are you competing for; a crown? Promotion? More money? Better life? Fitter body? The crown of life?

God has promised that you can have this crown of life. It is available and waiting for you. Are you going to follow Jesus wholeheartedly through thick and thin through times of disappointment and success to get it? If you do, you can be assured that at the end of this earthly existence, you will be crowned with life. Not a temporal crown that will be passed onto the next person when the competition is won by someone else, but this crown, the crown of life, is personally promised by God as part of your eternal inheritance. It has been set aside for you to wear. You have an eternal future waiting for you where you can be crowned a champion by God - Are you willing to live your life in such a way that you can earn that future?

There is valid warning following the promise of this crown in the verses above -  temptation is lurking. In the quest for relationship with God, a good holy, healthy life and the goal of the crown of life, there will plenty to try to take you off track. There will be outside influences, but also the ever-present temptation from within. James wants you to understand that growing in steadfastness, loving God and gaining the crown of life means walking away from sin. So, you need to know where sin comes from. It is not from God, not from the devil, but comes from your own desires. Some of the desires inside of you are not in  line with God, and they can easily lead to temptation and sin, 'and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.' Not a pleasant thought, but a reality. James doesn't want you to think that you can have both; the crown of life and sin. Living an earthly existence to gain eternal life looks like denying your own desires and living for God. It sounds flippant, but it is true. You need to realise and get to grips with the fact that all of your sin is dead. Jesus embodied it all and he was tortured and killed - 100% dead, so that you could know that all of your sin is 100% dead. If you believe in Jesus and live a life honouring God, the reality is you are free from all sin. Yet you are not free from temptation. That still stems from your desires, yet you now have the choice whether you step into sin or not. This is what it means to run the race of life living to attain the crown of life. There are obstacles, things that try to trip you up. They are not from God. If you want to live for God, love Him and get your eternal inheritance, then you need to be aware of yourself, your own desires and temptations so that you learn how to combat the desire to sin. It is true, it is hard work, it requires self-denial, a change in lifestyle perhaps and a life's work of dedication. Are you up for it? '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' God has this perfect gift of the crown of life awaiting you, are you living to attian it?

What are you boasting in?

 *9*Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, *10*and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. *11*For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 

James 1:9–11.

It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, you’re still going to wither like the grass one day. The same thing happens to us all. It doesn’t matter what you have or what you don’t because on the day you take your final breath it won’t effect your eternal destination. So, whichever condition you are in right now, do not gloat about it. 

James calls the poor to, ‘boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation’. Both very counter-cultural statements. In society, it is often those with money who have influence and power, who are upheld by others and admired and so have the platform to exalt themselves. Therefore James instructs those who are rich to boast in their humiliation not in their worldly influence. If you consider yourself rich, James exhorts you to not get swept away with what you have. Don’t go around showing off your riches and opportunities, but remember that without Jesus you really have nothing! When you compare what you have to the power, influence and renown of God, what does what you have look like? Even the richest people on Earth look poor compared to God. Put your life into God's perspective. When you consider God and His kingdom, what is your life worth? Therefore boast in your humiliation.

On the other hand, James tells those who are deemed poor to, ‘boast in his exaltation’. If you consider yourself poor and lacking today, James instructs you not to boast about what you lack. Instead remember how much you DO have. James invites you to develop an attitude of gratitude. You have much to be grateful for. If nothing else, then the minimum that you have is the fact that Jesus has given you life, a future and many promises. If you live your life following him, you have so much; You have a purpose, an eternal future, a relationship with God, a place prepared in heaven and you are an heir with Jesus! Even the poorest on Earth can be rich in eternity, so put your life into God's perspective and consider what is your life worth? Therefore boast in your exaltation.

The point here is that God does not want us to get carried away with our current circumstances on Earth as one day it will all be gone. So, instead of being concerned about being rich or poor, think about how much your life is worth to God. He sent His only son to die for you and He has invited you to live eternally with Him - this is worth boasting about, not the state of your finances. Whatever your situation right now, it will end. Whereas your eternal inheritance will not. Whether you think you have a lot or a little, one day it will all be irrelevant. It will ‘pass away’ and ‘wither’. So don’t build your life upon what you have in the here and now as it is transitory. Those things won’t mean a thing when you get to see Jesus face to face, the will wither and fade away. 

Ask God for wisdom

Do you realise that you can ask God for what you don’t have? 

It might be that you’re short of cash, that you are struggling academically, suffering physically, lack patience, peace or understanding. For any of these things, and many more, you can ask God to provide. When we have lack, we seek to gain more, and asking our loving Father in heaven to provide is a natural thing to do if you believe there is a God. 

There is one thing that we all lack, but I wonder if you ever ask God for it, and that is wisdom.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.*6*But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.*7*For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;*8*he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

James 1:5–8.

James encourages us in these verses to earnestly ask God for wisdom. Not to be smart, clever or knowledgeable, but wise. This is because wisdom is not just about knowing and recalling information, but is about having knowledge, experience and good judgement. A wise person understands and is able to apply what they know. They have the ability to understand how to respond to situations and they do it. Wisdom effects behaviour because the wise apply what they know to what they do. Do you think you're wise? Do you ever think to ask God to help you become wiser? 

If you and I had greater wisdom, then surely some of the things we struggle with in life might be a bit easier to manage, or we may even find solutions to them. With increased wisdom some of the things we already ask God to provide like patience and peace would surely follow if we understood and were able to apply that understanding to our lives.

Compared to God, our lack of wisdom is outstanding, He is after all, omniscient (all knowing!) and we are not, yet do you ever ask Him for it? Not just insight for a particular time or situation, but, like Solomon did, do you ask for wisdom so that you can lead life well and do the best with what you have got? 

I think we can be fooled into thinking that as the world is full of information and knowledge, we believe that we already have insight and capability. At no time in the world's existence has there been so much information so readily available, so we can mistakenly believe that knowing stuff is wisdom. However wisdom is not just about knowing things or being able to relay facts and statistics. There's a difference between being clever and wise. Wisdom is applied knowledge, applying understanding to what you do and say. You cannot get that from the internet or even from professors. God is the best one to provide it. He after all, has existed through every age and kept humanity and creation going so He has the applied understanding and knowledge to sustain life and relationships. Do you want some of the wisdom He has? 

God can so easily and readily supply and fulfil any desire for wisdom, yet when you do seek Him for it, consider how you ask, ‘‘ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord’. When you ask God, do you really believe God can and will do it? There's quite a stark warning here about how you approach God. James is making it very clear that God is not to be doubted. It is ok to acknowledge that you do not deserve what you ask God for, but you cannot doubt God’s goodness, capacity or wisdom. God is a loving, capable and generous father, and He wants you to have wisdom, as well as so many other things therefore you can be confident that He will provide. 

When I ask my earthly Dad something, I expect him to reply, I don’t doubt that he will. He is a good Dad, and wants good things for me. I do not always know how he will respond, what he will do or say, but I do expect to get some kind of response when I speak to him. Therefore, as imperfectly wonderful as earthly Dads can be, can we not expect our Heavenly Father to do the same? 

God may not respond in a way that you can predict or even want, but He loves to hear how He can help you. He likes to hear what you are yearning for and stretching for, and He wants to give you things including wisdom. So, when you approach God and ask, do so confidently. Do not doubt God's capacity, desire or love for you. You may not be confident in yourself, but you can be confident in the One you are asking. So, today, do you desire wisdom? If so, go ahead and ask, and expect to receive.

'Count it all joy'

 2*Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, *3*for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. *4*And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

James 1:2–4.

I find these verses some of the most challenging in Scripture. Whenever I read v2 I wonder how am I ever meant to achieve that - how do you consider trials a joy? I recall what the early christians went through and how they were praising in prison, flogged, beaten, stoned and crucified and I wonder how did they encounter these things with such calm and joy? 

Even in the days we are living in now christians are horrendously persecuted. Some people are tortured and tormented, yet their trust and understanding of God remains, and even strengthens. They go through the pain and discomfort because they know the truth and they, ‘count it all joy’ to be persecuted for Christ. I have not experienced anything like the terrible and terrifying ordeals that some suffer, yet even in my sufferings and trials I struggle to count it a joy. As I write this, I acknowledge that I am currently experiencing, 'trials of various kinds'. I have felt; heartbroken, confused, defeated, loss and numb. I have not been joyful about these things at all and I do not think that James is saying that we need to be full of joy in the trials, but learn to, ‘count’ them a joy. It would be inhuman really to rejoice when pain and suffering come, but that does not mean that we cannot consider that these hardships are actually doing us good in the long-term. I think that this is what James was getting at. When you encounter trials, it is tough and they stretch and challenge us in ways we never expected or wanted. Yet when you and I endure these things continuing to trust in God, although you know that your faith is being tested and that is difficult, you also can know that this is an opportunity to grow steadfast, perfect and content. Who doesn't want that? - this is good news!

There is bad news however, and that is that trials will involve pain, suffering and waiting! In order to achieve these attributes it means that you will have to endure. You have to persevere and be determined to  keep hold of your faith in God and doing what you know is right even if no-one else is. It is hard, and none of us like it, but growing up to become steadfast and complete is the goal. It takes patience, endurance, mistakes and hardship to get there. I think we struggle with this so much today as it is so easy to see that society has grown away from patience and endurance. These are not attributes that many of us have or seek, i mean, who likes waiting for things? The world promotes instant gratification and quick fixes rather than permanent solutions built over time. We have seen an increase of self-serve checkouts, pre-orders, 24hour delivery, all because we want things done and we want it now! We have become a throw away culture; if it doesn’t work, throw it out, get a new one. If it hurts, get some pain relief, if it’s hard, don’t do it. If you have to wait, order it online. If this is our standard - How are you to grow in patience and understanding? 

Nowhere does the Bible teach that instant gratification or relief is a good thing. We actually see the complete opposite. Scripture, teaches instead that; hardship, endurance, suffering, pain and trials are a good thing! Probably not if you look at the here and now whilst in the midst of a trial, but if you take time to consider what it is doing in you long-term, you can see that these tough times do you good. They cause you to evaluate life and yourself in a new way, they can help you grow in empathy, understanding, appreciation and can bring about faith and steadfastness, completeness and contentment. This is what these verses show us as well as the rest of the Bible. James also writes in verse 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.’ 

What a great promise! 

Yes, trials are tough and they last. The effects of the trials on our emotions, mental and physical health can take its toll, but what do they do for your spiritual health? Even if you are suffering, are you continuing to learn about God, still talking to Him and depending on Him? If so, then you will grow in faith and steadfastness, but it takes time. Faith is only realised when it’s tested. Steadfastness can only grow if you’ve endured through some trials. So, to achieve these things you have to accept the sufferings. You have to allow yourself to patiently go through it knowing that you can grow in character and faith eventually gaining the crown of life as your reward!