AN ACCOUNTING LESSON. James 1:2-3

Posted bySteven WalesPosted inAdversityTags:, ,

Since Adam began naming animals, humans have categorized everything in nature: evergreens and hardwoods, volcanic rock and sedimentary rock, mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians. The 19th-century saw the world briefly explode with naturalists. Explorers and artists like John James Audubon traveled with sketch pads, measuring tools, and boxes of specimens, seeking undiscovered animals to name, categorize, and publicize.

We are CATEGORIZERS.

It’s what people do: accountants (or bookkeepers) face the challenge of CATEGORIZING expenses. When a division of the company writes a check to an unknown vendor for the purchase of an unknown product, someone will have to make some calls. Which “pot” does this money come out of? Will there be additional charges such as taxes, shipping, or insurance? And the most important question—how do we label the expense? What is its category?

James tells us to think about suffering using an accounting metaphor. If your experiences were a ledger sheet and you the accountant, account the suffering by listing it in the CREDITS column. In other words, put suffering in the same category as paychecks, pay raises, and bonuses. (Does it sound like James might have flunked Accounting 101?)

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” James 1:2-3.

Count it joy. Other translations say, ‘consider it joy,’ or ‘regard it all joy.’  When you make an accounting of your day, put suffering in the good column. That doesn’t mean it FEELS good. But BY FAITH, you can ACCOUNT it as part of the good column. That is, when you add up the debits and credits, take everything that bothers you (all the debits) and put those things in the credits side. Count it ALL Joy. Everything you suffer will produce strength and endurance in you.

God, remind us of the miraculous power of GRATITUDE. Help us to be thankful for trials, to rejoice in adversity, and to put suffering in the “win” column at the end of each day. Remind us to be thankful in ALL THINGS.

ΑΩ

Published by Steven Wales

Dad's Daily Devotional began as text messages to my family. I wanted my teenagers to know their father was reading the Bible. But they were at school by then. Initially, I sent them a favorite verse or an insight based on what I read each day. That grew into drafting a devotional readng which I would send them via text. I work as an attorney and an adjunct professor, and recently wrote a book called HOW TO MAKE A'S.

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