Daily Bible Reading – 9.29.2021
James 1:16-18, Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
In contrast to anyone who thinks that God is the source of temptation and would entice us to sin, James makes it absolutely clear that God is the source of the exact opposite. God is good and generous and can by his holy nature only give us perfect gifts. Every beautiful gift we have is from our Heavenly Father.
James gives us several examples. He is the God who gave us the great lights visible in the heavens that provide us life. It is, also, implied that God gives spiritual light to all who look to Him for their salvation.
This is the same God we can count on being the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He does not change like the shadows that sweep across the earth. He is the same faithful and good God day in and day out.
This is the God who willingly and lovingly offers us spiritual birth through the truth that Jesus spoke and lived and died to shower upon us. God gave us the greatest gift of all- the promise of life, abundant life, and eternal life.
The promise is for all who trust in Jesus as their Redeemer. As Jewish Christians, they were the firstfruits from the harvest of all who would ever believe. This can also speak of Christians in each generation who are the firstfruits of those who will believe in the future.
In contrast to a God who would tempt us to fall on our faces, we have an amazingly good and pure God who loves to shower us with many wonderful life-giving gifts.
Questions to Consider:
What are the greatest gifts God has given you? How do they encourage you to trust in God’s unchanging and good nature?
Weekly Memory Verse:
James 4:7, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.