Be patient therefore brothers until the coming of the Lord. James 5:7
Have you ever noticed how the New Testament writers write with a deep sense of urgency? Their words make it sound like Jesus has ascended and will be back any minute. But for our modern ears, this can feel silly—is waiting and living like Jesus is coming back really that important? Perhaps we have been taught that Jesus will return again and restore all things, but that feels so far off, so out of touch with what reality feels like today. And yet, as surely as he came into the world once, he will return (Acts 1:11).
Advent comes every year to reawaken us to this seemingly forgotten reality. Like spiritual smelling salts, Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, is a season of anticipation and longing intended to retune our hearts, minds, and imaginations to remember that we are indeed waiting for our King to come.
Advent means literally to come. Leading up to Christmas, we are focused on the first coming of the Jesus, the inbreaking of God through the incarnation as he sets in motion what he promised through the prophets centuries before. To understand advent and what we are waiting for we must first remember the story of Israel where it leaves off. This time in history is called the intertestamental period, the years between the old and new testaments, which was about 400 years. Israel had been released from captivity to Babylon and begun, with many obstacles, to rebuild the temple in anticipation of the promised messiah. But mostly, this was a season of waiting. Israel was discouraged and worn down, once again finding themselves waiting and wondering what God was doing and if he would prove himself faithful.
Today, we find ourselves in a very similar place. Though we know how the story of Israel’s waiting ends, we too are waiting between advents, between the comings of Christ. Jesus has come, but he promises to come again. Through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension we are united to him, adopted as children of God, and walk by his Spirit. But one day he will return to make all things new, to wipe away every tear and end sin and death once and for all.
So today, as we begin this season of Advent, let us rightly posture ourselves, joining with the saints who waited long before us, in hopeful anticipation of Jesus coming again. He has promised he will.
Reflect: How does thinking about the return of Christ shape your day to day life?
Pray: Lord, I am waiting for many things and you know each of them. Awaken my heart to your promise to return one day and make all things new. Give me hope and imagination to live today in a way that reflects your perfect word, and grant me by your spirit the grace and courage to follow you with joy in my circumstances today. Amen.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.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. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. – James 1:16-18
The Bible is full of things that seem unbelievable: humans rising from the dead, immaculate conception, prophecies, spiritual realms. But often, the most unbelievable things in scripture are not supernatural, they are the words that challenge our underlying assumptions about ourselves. James says that every good and perfect gift is from God. Every single one. When we see something good in our lives, it is from God. A healthy family? A gift from God. A good education? A gift from God. A delicious meal? A gift from God.
The good gifts
When I worked with Harvard students, this topic was always an interesting one to breach. These incredibly gifted, hard-working students have largely been told “you got yourself here, you deserve this.” It was their work, determination, and brilliance that landed them a spot at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. When we would discuss James’ words, I could see the wheels turning, an uncomfortable tension rising in their minds. The tension of wondering who did what? Perhaps God did give me certain things, but at some point, it was my work that got me here. There was an invisible line between the things God did, and the things they did to arrive on campus. And this line runs through each of our hearts.
We find it hard to believe that God has opened every door, provided our family and finances, and created us with minds and abilities that are bestowed by him. We want our successes and accomplishments to be our glory, not his. But the Greek word for good in this verse means intrinsic good; gifts that are good whether we see them to be so or not. It’s like James is addressing this problem before we can even argue with him. Any intrinsic good in your life is a gift from your Heavenly Father. The things we celebrate most about ourselves should be the gifts we thank God for most. But there is something even more valuable—the perfect gift.
The perfect gift
The word for gift is only seen in one other place—Romans 5 where it is used to refer to our salvation, the most valuable gift of God. Salvation is the gift we should desire most, be most thankful for, and delight in more than any other. And yet often, it is the overlooked gift. What a low view of salvation that we have when we accept that we have been made righteous through the work of Christ, freed from the penalty and curse of sin, and adopted as children of God, and move on looking for more. We take our eyes off of this most precious gift and put them back on the gifts that seem to serve us most today, bring us the most glory. But as James reminds us, do not be deceived, this gift of salvation is of much greater value than any comforts or provisions God has given us in his goodness. Do not lose sight of the reality that our salvation is the only gift we truly need.
Today, remember that the good gifts are good and we should thank God for them, but they are not the perfect gift. They are not union with Christ or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They are not the promise of life eternal, our sin forgiven, or brokenness restored. Today fix your eyes on the gift of Christ, the only gift we truly need.
Reflect:
What are the good gifts from God you see in your life?
Where do you see the line of what God has done and what I have accomplished in your life?
How has salvation changed your life?
Pray: Lord, thank you that every gift comes from you. I repent of the ways that I think my own actions or work have earned the good things in my life. Help me to grow in my awareness of and thankfulness for your provision, and learn to treasure your gift of salvation more and more. Help me to rejoice with the Psalmist who says, I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me (Ps 13:5-6). Amen.
The Christian life is full of tension. But no concept must be held in tension more tightly than grace and works. The conversation I have more often than any other with other believers is, “YOU NEED TO SPEND TIME IN GOD’S WORD! But remember that you are saved by grace and having quiet time does not earn your salvation. But because God loves you so much, spend time in your Bible and get to know him!” There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love, but there is much we can do to get to know him better, to walk in His ways, and be transformed into his likeness. One of these ways is reading the Bible.
I’ve heard many reasons for not reading scripture—I don’t get much from reading the Bible, I don’t have time to read scripture, it’s boring. While these sentiments are common, we cannot let them go unchecked. The Bible is the primary way we get to know God, so if we are going to follow him well, knowing God’s word is critical for our spiritual growth and health. Though everyone has different reasons and difficulties with reading scripture, here are five reasons that I have personally found spending time in God’s word can be challenging, and how to work through them.
The Bible about God, not you. I always trend towards self-centeredness, so it is no surprise that when I open my Bible, I often want it to be about me. But the Bible is primarily about God, not a tool for my own self-discovery. Something that campus ministry taught me was the importance of other-centeredness. Though I could happily talk about myself in one-on-one meetings with students, I was there for them and to get to know their story. The same goes for our relationship with God. We are his creation and he has made us to know him.
The way forward: humility. When you open God’s word, focus on learning more about him, his character, what delights and angers him, and the way he has made us. Ask the Spirit to teach you about who you are in the context of your relationship with the one who made you and knows you.
Misplaced expectations. What do you expect when you open your Bible? An emotional experience? To hear an audible voice from heaven? That scripture will always speak perfectly to your circumstances? The most important thing I learned from pre-marital counseling was that expectations dictate relationships. We must identify our expectations of reading scripture and then determine if they are biblical expectations. It is not wrong to expect God to show up when you read the Bible, in fact, God promises that he will—that his spirit will give us understanding and insight into his word as we read it. But in order to remove disappointment or frustration from time in the word, we must identify what exactly we expect.
The way forward: expecting the Spirit to do what he promises. The Holy Spirit’s job is to bear witness to who Jesus is by teaching us his words, reminding us of what he did (Jn 14:26), and expanding our hearts to love him more (1 Jn 3:20). He also helps us see our sin, leads us to repentance (Jn 16:7-8), and sanctifies us to make us look more like Jesus (2 Cor 3:8). But what this looks like day to day is really simple things: a verse that comforts us, a story that challenges us, seeing something beautiful in the person of Jesus, a heart that repents of sin. These are the everyday works of God; we need to sharpen our vision to see them.
I haven’t addressed my psychology. If I’m honest, I often operate as if God is a little bit annoyed with me. He wishes I was less sinful, holier, more prayerful—he wants me to get my act together. I know that this is not what God thinks about me, but this lie seeps into how I approach God in my quiet time and changes my posture. I find myself edgy, trying to do more or be better, and quickly walking away from the gospel of grace that the Bible sings over me. If we allow our emotions to tell us what God thinks about us, we will hate spending time with him.
The way forward: believing the truth. Answer this question: what does God think about you? Does he like you? Our emotions are important and powerful, but we cannot give them the privilege of telling us who God is. We must rely on God’s own words for that, and he says that he delights in us (Ps 70:4), adopted us as his children (Gal 4:5), forgiven us (1 Jn 1:19), promises to show us grace every single day (Lam 3:22-23), and does not hold a grudge against us (Ps 103:12). We must choose to measure our emotions against the truth, and believe what God says about us.
I don’t feel like reading scripture. The question of authenticity is primary for our generation. If I don’t feel like doing something, I shouldn’t because it wouldn’t be authentic. But this is a short-sighted way of living life. If I only ever did what I felt like doing, I wouldn’t get up in the middle of the night to comfort a screaming child, I would probably lose my job because I don’t feel like working very often, and my wallet would be hurting because I don’t always feel like cooking dinner and would rather eat out. The reality is that much of life is comprised of doing things that we don’t always feel like doing, but we do them anyway because they are valuable, good for us, or make us better. If you are a Christian, your life belongs to God and we must do what he asks of us, whether we feel like it or not.
The way forward: showing up. Showing up before the Lord, reading his word, spending time in prayer even when we don’t feel like it sows the seeds of a big harvest. The biggest lesson I have learned about spending time with God is consistency. I won’t always have an amazing quiet time, but I have come to love my 30 minutes of time before Jesus. Showing up when it’s hard paves the way for enjoyment and delight in God’s word.
I’m in a hurry. The easiest reason to neglect time in scripture is because I am busy. But the reality is, I will always be busy, and if I wait to prioritize time in scripture for the day I am not busy, I will never start. In spite of busyness, everyone makes time for the things that they love. I love hiking and running and being outdoors and I will get up early, postpone lunch, and do anything I can to get that time outside. We prioritize and pursue the things we value. So the real question is, why don’t you value time in scripture? This is the much bigger question hiding underneath our claims of busyness and it is the question with which we must wrestle. If you find yourself not making space for God, his word, or prayer in your day, you need to ask yourself why.
The way forward: an honest look at your relationship with Jesus. Being honest with yourself and the Lord is essential and there are reasons for why you don’t make time for God in your day. We each need to identify what those reasons are. Maybe you find scripture confusing, or you are afraid that if you read the Bible you will hear things you don’t like. Whatever your reason might be, you need to identify it, bring it before the Lord, and ask him to help you work through it. We must learn to prioritize Christ in our lives because he is much better and more valuable than anything else we might put first.
