Are You Stable?

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double‑minded man, unstable in all he does.

Note that James finds one of the first needs of a Christian is for wisdom.
Not wealth or fame or the accumulation of things. Wisdom. Godly wisdom.

Furthermore, the Christian should ask for that Heavenly wisdom in faith.

Now follow this:

We are told that a man who is double-minded (dipsuchos) is unstable. The definition of double minded says that a person would be "divided in interest." This division makes him unstable.

Sort of like the football player who glances into the grandstands in the middle of a play. He loses his concentration, and the opponent runs right by him.

...or the seamstress who gashes her finger because she was not paying attention to the movement of the needle.

... or the police traffic controller at an intersection, directing traffic, who loses interest and endangers himself by being in the path of an oncoming vehicle.

DIVIDED INTEREST

Like:
my sacrificial walk with God but also my desire for personal comfort
my devotional time but my adherence to mindless games and baubles
my Bible reading and my desire for more TV watching
my memorization of Scriptural truths vs. my love of reading unimportant trivia

...it's like standing with one foot on concrete and one foot ankle-deep in mud. I'm not stable.