The Source

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:16, 17)

Everyone, without exception—every man, woman, and child; rich man, poor man; Christian, non; despairing or content—everyone without exception devotes his or her life, thoughts, feelings, and actions to the pursuit of happiness, to getting the good and perfect “gifts.” Those who get up in the morning and do whatever they do—eat breakfast, go to work, laugh and play—do so because they think it is the right thing, the good thing, the thing that will bring them pleasure. Those who stay in bed—to mourn, to run away, to indulge, to rest—do so for the exact same reason, because they think it is what will bring them the best good. We are all looking to satisfy the aching in our soul for good and perfect gifts.

And even those of us who know better and know what this verse in the Bible tells us, that all things good—again without exception—come from God, even we struggle frequently (daily? moment-by-moment?) against the deception the damned serpent presented to our parents in the Garden (where everything was Paradise, right?): God is holding back. Somehow somewhere something outside God’s plan and God’s law and God’s ways (outside God Himself?) is going to bring me more pleasure, more delight, more satisfaction, more power, and more glory than what comes down from above.

In other words, the essence of sin is the disbelief of this verse. If we would go to the Father of lights, the Father of all things light and pure and good and true, if we would ask of God, the God who gives liberally and without reproach to all who ask for the good, we would avoid the shipwreck of wrong desire and temptation and sin and the death that ensues. But we teeter back and forth much of the time, unfortunately, between such faithful asking-looking-trusting-and-waiting and the utterly foolish response of lusting for the fruit forbidden if not sinking our teeth into it altogether.

God is the source of all things good, and He is good Himself, neither empty nor stingy, and with Him there is no variation or shadow of turning. The source—and nothing but the source—will always bear what it bears, give what it gives. God alone can be trusted for the goodness and perfection for which we long and live and pursue. Go to Him, beloved, and abide in Him, look to Him, and delight in Him, and He will give you the desires of your hearts.

“Father of lights, Source of all good, Goodness Himself, forgive our disbelief, deliver us from deception, draw us to Yourself, grant to us Yourself. Keep us from looking for love and joy and happiness and fulfillment and wisdom and comfort in all the wrong places, and by Your Holy Spirit guide us in the way that leads to You and all things good, true, and beautiful. We pray believing and trusting in our Lord’s most holy and precious name. Amen.”