To read the rest of A Journey through James 1, start HERE.
James 1:16-17
Do not 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.
Chances are you may already be familiar with James 1:17 or maybe you even have it memorized. I find that the phrase “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” often pops into my head when the Holy Spirit is once again prompting me to be grateful to God for all He has given me. But I have to admit that I had never really considered the verse right before until I started this study, and not surprisingly, the context is vitally important.
“Do not be deceived” in verse 16 reminds us that we are so often duped into thinking that all the wonderful things in our lives come from anyone or anything but God. We may convince ourselves that all of our hard work, character traits or personal talents are what got us to where we are today… That every bit of success results from our own doing. But 1 Corinthians 4:7 causes us to pause and consider the true source of all we possess, both internally and externally, reminding us “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”
Who gave us all of our abilities, personalities and strength? God Himself. Or maybe some people tend to think that luck, fate or destiny has a role in the good things that come to them in life? Yet as believers we know that God is sovereign and in control of every detail.
Whether we tend to think that the good in our lives comes from within us or from the world around us, ultimately we need to repent of those thoughts and humble ourselves before the Almighty, who is the source of every good and perfect gift. Blessings don’t just stem from our own efforts, from people wielding power or from the circumstances occurring around us, but from God alone, who gives in accordance with His purposes and for His glory.
The Greek word for “deceive” in verse 16 is planao, and it means “to cause to stray” and “to lead away from the truth.”[1] In John 17:17, as Jesus is praying to His Father, He plainly stated, “your word is truth.” Putting this together, we can understand that anything that is not in line with the Word of God is actually deception, even if it’s a subtle difference. If an idea, behavior or person is leading us away from the truth of Scripture, we are being deceived and we must fight against that. We must take our thoughts captive and obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), looking to Him and remembering where our strength, power and hope all come from.
God is the Father of the heavenly lights, and not only are we meant to turn our eyes upward to gaze at the skies above and marvel at His creation, but we’re also called to turn our thoughts and hearts to Him. David beautifully exclaims how the sun, moon and stars magnify the majesty of the Lord in Psalm 19.
Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
The heavenly lights above proclaim the splendor and power of God. He is the Creator, and He is not confined by the physical nature of this world. He is above it all. He reigns in heaven and send us gifts from on high. We desperately need to remember that every good and perfect gift comes via vertical delivery, not horizontally. It doesn’t come from within ourselves or from any other entity here on earth. Those gifts are given by God above, who sees the big picture and knows our every need.
The end of James 1:17 includes an important reminder… That God is unchanging, unlike shifting shadows. His ways are not fleeting or transitory like today’s culture or people’s fickle emotions. God is steadfast and immutable. He is the Rock on which we can build our lives. Let’s remember that every good gift comes from Him, knowing that we can trust God in all things.
[1] G4105 – planaō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4105/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/
Heather L. Myers 