Study through James - Part 2

Hello everyone! This is the second part of our study through James.
We will be looking at James 1:9-12. This is what it says:
"9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossoms falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."
So... this is an interesting passage. Verses 9-11 talk about the value of earthly things. In verse 9, James says that a brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. Did you just read that right? Yes, you did. Think of a child in a third-world country, that has no idea when his next meal will be, and yet he trusts in God!! Now, that is a person in high position. He is in high regard in God's eyes because he has faith in God, and trusts Him. But, as for the man who only worries about money... well, that is not a good place to be. James says that this man will wither away. Now, first of all, this is not saying that just because you have more money that you're bad. This means that whoever follows after money more than God will fall away. This brings to mind a few verses: Matthew 6:19-21: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where the moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I think this is what James is saying, basically. Also, think of the parable of the man who all he did was store up in barns. He only thought about earthly things.
Now, I know, all of us are good little Christians, and we NEVER do things like that. ;-) Yeah. Think about it. I know, it is hard, but think about it. Don't you sometimes, or even often, think more about earthly objects rather than heavenly things? Are we working to earn earthly things or heavenly things? This is a very easy trap to fall into. We want to look as good as the Jones', so we worry about earthly objects. Truedette? Foshizzle. :D (sorry, inside joke... my bro and my old pastor. :P lol)
Verse 12 I think is talking a little bit more about storing things up in heaven. If we stand through the trials for Christ, we will have a crown one day. And this isn't any 'ol gold, earthly crown. This is the crown of eternal life. Which is the best crown of all!!

Now, I have one other thing to share with all of you, that I thought you might like to hear. :) The church we have been going to is doing a study through 1 John. This week we looked at the rest of chapter one and a bit of chapter two. But the pastor, Mr. Peter, was talking about a trap we all fall into. He used this example: Perhaps you have heard of the Slough of Despond from Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan. This is where our conscience is weighing us down. All we think about is how sinful we are. Mr. Peter was saying how in a way, we think that if we think about this, somehow it will push us closer to Christ. But rather, it weighs us down, bogs us down, and we don't get anywhere in life. He used an interesting example for this: On Saturday, he had a job he had been putting off for months. There was a bunch of insulation under his house that he had to clean out. He had 18 garbage bags of insulation he had cleaned out. Well, he had to get under a crawl space under his house, and in some places, it was very, very narrow. Anyway, when he had all his bags of insulation, he thought he didn't want to pull them out one at a time, so what he did, is he got a rope, and he tied 12 bags of garbage to his ankle, while he crawled along in this tight space. This is like the Slough of Despond, when we wallow in our sins, seeming to refuse to acknowledge that we are forgiven! We have bags and more bags of garbage tied to our ankles, like chains, and they hold us back. They keep us moving slow, and they hold us back. In the Slough of Despond (or under the crawl space of your house, whichever ;-), we should get a knife, and cut off all of those bags. We should look towards the light, and find the hidden steps. We should keep our eyes on Christ. (as a note, Mr. Peter was not saying that we should not examine ourselves, and he made it very clear that we should. But at the same time, we should not just dwell on the fact that we are sooo sinful, as Christ as ransomed us)
Anyway, I just thought all of you would enjoy that. :)
Hope you enjoyed the post!! :)

In Christ alone,
~Madison