Mar 24
8:59 AM
Single-Minded
Mar 24
8:59 AM
Mar 24
8:59 AM
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
James 1:5-8
Today, I want to talk to you about being single minded. Now, I'm not talking about being obsessive, or only thinking about one thing. I'm talking about being single minded, as opposed to the alternative, which is being double minded. I've been around people that are double minded. They say, "I'm gonna do this.. well, no I think I'm not gonna do that. But now I think I'm gonna do that, no I'm not gonna do that." Or, they might say, "I believe that that's always wrong." But then later they say, "It's not always wrong." These are people who just flip flop around. They just have no firm opinions, or thinking, or convictions. They're double minded. And whenever you're a double minded person, James says you're in trouble.
I want to read James 1:5-8 because James talks about the dangers of double mindedness. He implicitly says the alternative is to have a single minded attitude. Look at what he says: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. " So, the context is wisdom. The context is for if you need direction, and are asking God what you should do in a certain area of life. If you ask God in faith, and with an expectation that He will guide you, he will give you wisdom. He will guide you, whether overtly or covertly, whether he tells you how he wants you to do it, or whether he is apparently silent but you do what you're going to do, he will guide you if you ask for wisdom.
But then James gives a warning in verse six. When someone asks God for wisdom, he must believe and not doubt, because "he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he'll receive anything from the Lord. He is a double minded man, unstable in all he does." In other words, if you don't have firm convictions, or firm beliefs, if you don't have a decision that you make and stand with, you are unstable. This doesn't mean that sometimes you don't change your decision. We all do that. But if this is the course of your life, you're constantly flip flopping, then you're unstable. You know, if you're on a ship and it's sinking, you shouldn't run to one side, then run to another side. I mean, you have to make a plan. Either run to one side that you think is going to be higher, or run to a raft, or run for cover, or whatever you're going to do when life is going crazy. That's not the time to be double minded. You have to be single minded. And the greatest single mind is this: I want to do what God wants me to do.
The whole context is wisdom. So here's what I want to ask you. Are you duplicitous? Are you double minded? Be single minded. Have a belief and stick to it. It doesn't mean you don't change. You know, we all grow. We all think one thing and then, as we get wiser, we think another thing. That's not double minded, that's just called development of your thinking. Double minded is when you have one belief, and then you have another, then you have another, and then you have another. In fact, when you have two beliefs, you have no beliefs. What I want to say to you is, that's an unstable life. You cannot say you believe in investing for the future, then decide you believe in buying a new car. Then you believe in investing for retirement, then you want to take it all out and put it down on a house. You can't live that way. It's not an effective way to live. James says, Don't do that. So here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. Whenever you have double mindedness, seek God's wisdom, and ask him to help you be single minded, focused on him. And by the way, did you notice how he referred to single mindedness? He referred to single mindedness as faith, and he referred to double mindedness as doubt. Don't live a doubtful life. live a life of single minded faith, seeking God's wisdom, and then putting it into practice.
Father, we all struggle with double mindedness. I pray that we will be as single minded as we can be on as many convictions and areas of life as we should be. Help us to arrive at your will, your wisdom on every important matter of life. And when we change positions, help us to make the change carefully, cautiously, slowly, and righteously. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.