James 4:1-3 From where come wars and fights among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?… Sometimes we ask for things which would be very hurtful to others, though they might be gain to us. A poor boy needed a sovereign to enter a mechanical institute, where he would have great advantages. He only heard of it a short while before the opening of the term, and he did not see how he could get the money in time. His father could not afford give it to him; he tried in vain to raise it. He was too proud to ask a friend for it; so he prayed God that he might somewhere find the sovereign he needed. He did not find it. Now, was there anything wrong in the prayer? At first sight it looks simple and harmless enough, doesn't it? But think for a moment. Would not some one have to lose the sovereign before the lad could find it? That puts the matter in a very different light. This poor lad was asking God to take the money out of some one's pocket and put it into his. But it surely is not fair to ask God to help us at the expense of other people. (J. Themore) Parallel Verses KJV: From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? |
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