WONDERFUL THING IN THIS PASSAGE – The best of us are stumbling through this life. Except for the grace of God, we’d fall headlong over and over. Praise God that there is plenty of His grace to go around.
In today’s Wonderful Thing, James reminds us…
“For we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2).
In “we all,” James includes himself, all his readers, and every one of their teachers (see verse 1). He leaves no one out. And He uses the present tense: If you are following Christ, you will often stumble in doing so.
So, all Christians “stumble.” We get tripped up. Sometimes by our own clumsiness or inattention. Sometimes because we walk a path too near the edge or with too many pitfalls. And sometimes because someone places a trip hazard in front of us. “In many ways” but with one result: our smooth walk in the Lord is often interrupted by falls or near-falls.
WONDERFUL THING IN OUR LIVES – You and I can be surprised or depressed by how often we stumble or how badly. God isn’t. “The Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For he knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust” (Psa. 103:13-14). Our blunders haven’t discouraged Him, “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). And He will keep working in us no matter how many times we fall. Our part is to get up one more time and keep following.
We need to keep in mind that everyone we encounter has the same tripping problem. Each of them needs the grace of God as much as we do – and He gives it in abundance. How can we refuse grace to those to whom God extends it? Expect to meet someone in the next day or two that you could help to get up one more time and follow Jesus again.
I’m asking the Lord to use me to encourage you to do two things this week:
- Stop following paths where you’ve often stumbled.
- Focus on not sinning in what you say. According to James 3:2-12, that could go a long way in reducing your number of trip-ups.
And please pray for me that I will do the same (really).
