Straddling the Fence

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     James 1:6-8 says, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

     We have a lot of things in our lives that give us choices.  I can either go or stay.  I can either stop or go.  I can eat or not eat.  I can flip a coin and get  either heads or tails.  I can say one thing at one time and say another thing the next  time.  

     We find that many people we know or come across, will change their opinions on this or that at will.  I used to walk on a 2 x 4 piece of wood and pretend it was fifty feet off the ground when it was just two inches.  I was unsteady, or “wavering” back and forth and would often fall off the board, either to the left or to the right.  We can do that quite often, only not just on a balance beam but in every affair of life itself.  The above passage describes the manner of many people who are wavering in their faith and for many, it will depend on to whom they are speaking.  James describes this person as one who is like a wave that is driven by th wind and will bend in whatever direction is moving it.  James also describes the person as one who is unstable and vacillating between two different and often opposing opinions.  Simply put, the person is unstable in all of his ways.  While a person may not suffer too great a consequence in some things, other things, such as salvation  or eternal destiny is one thing you don’t want to vacillate in.  I have heard of prominent people who confessed to be believers and suddenly change their mind and reject the Bible as the Word of God.  I seriously doubt that they really knew the Lord in the first place, but just a form of worship which meant nothing to them.  Foxes Book of Martyrs is filled with the account of people who died for their faith and who refused to waver in it even to the point of death.   The person who  stands firm in their beliefs is said to have convictions while the person who wavers in his or her faith is said to have preferences.  If I say I will obey the government and then fail to drive under the speed limit and therefore break the law, i will be guilty of breaking my conviction of obedience to the government and therefore have a “preference” about driving that may change from day to day.  There are those things that are non negotiable as far as wavering is concerned.  Don’t waver over the Word of God so that pretty much convicts us all right from the beginning.  I heard one simple statement tha went,”If God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”  Praise God for His standard.  May we not waver from it.