Dissing Double Mindedness

SCRIPTURE:  James 1a,5-8 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,…but let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways.”  

If you’re like me, with the new year, you want to do a self-assessment. For some of you this challenge may occur around New Year’s Day; for others it may come on your birthday.  However, you measure your year, you want to see that you’ve progressed, that you’ve matured this year in APPLYING the principles of God’s Word to the “corridors” of your daily life-- becoming more like Jesus!  (See Heb. 5:14; 6:1) For me, a “pet issue” has been double mindedness.  I don’t want to enter 2022 being double minded as it pertains to service, or any other life area. Do you?  Todays’ selected Scripture says that a double-minded person is unstable in all his/ her ways.  

As I researched this, I noticed related verses extolling the downside of being a double-minded person. We see in 1 Corinthians 11:28 that our Lord commends our willingness to regularly examine ourselves—and this is true not only before participating in holy communion.  It’s an ongoing healthy spiritual practice to periodically ask, ‘Am I trying to serve two different masters? James 4:8 links doublemindedness with impurity of heart!   Luke 16:13 is clear when it says, “No servant can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other.”

That said, we need to critically assess whether at times we are trying to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons!  (1 Cor.  10:21) The “demons” of some might include such leisurely preoccupations as social media addiction, TV show obsessions, or an insatiable pursuit of money.  I want to be committed (and as a comical aside, be careful around whom you use that word ‘committed,’), but I want to be HOT, “on fire” for Jesus every day!  I want to daily possess such fervor for serving Him that He is my greatest and most CONSISTENT aspiration—whether I have much or little on my “to-do” list!  Did not our Lord say in Revelation 3:16 that He wishes we were either cold or hot?  Our Savior is in no way impressed by “lukewarm” followers or souls that waver back and forth in regard to their commitment to His lordship.

PRAYER:  Abba, Father, thank You for being patient with us when we unwittingly become double-minded.  Help us to choose daily and consistently to love You with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.   Thank You, Abba, in Jesus’ name!  Amen!

(By Denise Diggs )