Stablish Your Hearts

James 5:8 KJV

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Gill says, "Though the state of the saint is stable... His heart is very unstable."

I have witnessed time and again that, though a believer cannot lose what God has given him by grace, his outward man can become so shaken in this world and his inward spirit can become so vexed with troubles as to bring into question whether his faith was ever real.

The currents of life events sweep relentlessly against the anchor in our soul so as to cause tremors in the very strongest Christians. Those currents were powerful in the time of James' writing. Believers had every reason to expect that Jerusalem would fall to Rome. What impact this would have upon them was left to be seen but, as difficult as Jewish control was, it was a known. In the face of this pressure James’ admonition was to stablish the heart and wait on the Lord.

So too must we be ever after our hearts, guarding them and strengthening them against those currents that would sweep away faith.

·         Through observance of Christian practice

·         Through reading of the Word of God

·         Through encouragement from the nearby saints and

·         Through careful watching for Christ's return

we steel our hearts to remain faithful to the Lord.