“If any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God,
who gives to all liberally
and without reproach,
and it will be given to him.
But let him ask in faith,
with no doubting,
for he who doubts is like a
wave of the sea driven and
tossed by the wind.
For let not that man suppose
that he will receive anything
from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways.”
(James 1:5 – 8)
The context of this passage
In James 1 is talking
About “wisdom”
But I want to consider it from the
Perspective of the double-minded man
Clearly it IS possible to be
Double-minded
Though that is something that is
NOT recommended
For such a man will NOT
Receive anything from the Lord
In Matthew 16:17 Jesus commends
Peter for his open heart
To hear the Father speak to him
About who Jesus is
And yet in Matthew 16:23
A few verses later
Jesus rebukes Peter for having
A closed heart to God
And instead being FULL of carnality
In the first case, Peter has his mind
Open to hearing the Father’s voice
But in the second case, Peter allows
Himself to be a vessel for Satan
How can this be?
In reality this story or sequence
Of events is VERY important for us
As it teaches us that we can either
Be Mind FULL of God or
Mind FULL of earthly things
Earthly desires
Earthly motives
Which from God’s point of view
Is being Mind FULL of Satan
“But He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind Me, Satan!
You are an offense to Me,
for you are not mindful
of the things of God,
but the things of men.” “
(Matthew 16:23)
Being Mind FULL of the things of men
Is to be Mind FULL of Satan
“He who is not with Me is against Me”
(Matthew 12:30)
This can seem a bit daunting
But where do your thoughts go?
Are you mindful of the things of God?
Or, are you mindful of earthly things?
Are you for Jesus, trusting in Him
For everything?
Or, are you trying to live with a foot
In both camps?
Our LIFE is either for Jesus or NOT
Christianity is NOT simply what
We do on a Sunday!
Now we do have to live and work
And think on other things in life
But where is our heart?
Where do we “belong”?
With Jesus or not…
When we are mindful of Jesus
We live life with Him in mind
We think of the needs of others
Before we think of ourselves
Everything we do is unto the Lord
With Him in mind
He is the driving force for our lives
Both in our work and in our play
YES, even when we relax and rest
But when we try and “Play church”
Being a “Good” person
When we think it is appropriate
But essentially “Doing our own thing”
We ARE double-minded
“For let not that man suppose
that he will receive anything
from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways”
(James 1:7 – 8)