James 1:2-4 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations;… The best steel is subjected to the alternatives of extreme heat and extreme cold. Were you ever in a cutlery? If you were, you noticed that the knife-blades were heated, and beaten, and then heated again, and plunged into the coldest water, in order to give them the right shape and temper. And perhaps you also noticed that there was a large heap of rejected blades — rejected because they would not bear the tempering process. They cracked and warped; when put upon the grindstone, little flaws appeared in some that, up to that point, had seemed fair and perfect. Hence they were thrown aside as unfit for market. So souls, in order to ensure the right temper, are heated in the furnace of affliction, plunged into the cold waters of tribulation, and ground between the upper and nether stones of adversity and disaster. Some come out of the trial pure, elastic, and bright, ready for the highest service; others come out brittle, with ill-temper, full of flaws and spots of rust, and are thrown into the rubbish-room of the Church as unfit for any but the lowest uses. Now if you would be of any account among the forces that are working out the salvation of this world, be still in the hands of God until He tempers you. Listen to that knife-blade in the hands of the cutler. "Stop, now! I have been in the fire often enough. Would you burn the life out of me?" But in it goes again into the glowing furnace, and is heated to a white heat. "Stop hammering me! I have been pounded enough now." But down comes the sledge. "Keep me out of this cold water. One moment in the fiery furnace and the next in ice-cold water. It is enough to kill one! "But in it goes. "Keep me off the grindstone. You'll chafe the life out of me." But it is made to kiss the stone until the cutler is satisfied. But now see! When all the heating and cooling and pounding and grinding is done you may bend it double, and yet it springs back straight as an arrow; it is as bright as polished silver, hard as a diamond, and will cut like a Damascus blade. It has been shaped, tempered, and polished, and is worth something. (R. V. Lawrence.) Parallel Verses KJV: My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;WEB: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, |
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