James 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. This endurance, which the writer seems to consider the finally desirable thing, may have two meanings: it may signify the being able to bear whatever is laid on us by our Lord, and which we call patience, or it may signify permanence of character. The latter seems the fixed meaning. Before the blast the dead leaves are driven, or the waves on the surface of the ocean are tossed, but the tree has endurance and remains; the ocean has endurance and remains. It is this permanence of character which is desirable above all things. The earlier trials are the first weight imposed upon character. They tend to give compactness. There is a line of density below which no substance can be pressed. Every additional pound of weight causes that which is Dressed to approach that compactness which no additional burden can increase. This completed compactness the writer calls the "perfect work" of endurance. The sooner a man reaches this effect of trouble, the sooner is he at the point where no trouble can ever work him any harm. He is "perfect and entire." (C. F. Deems, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.WEB: Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. |
    |