Exegeting James 1:19b-25

Man it has been a long, spiritually tough, and academically challenging semester here at EBC and now it is coming to a head as I am now about to write an exegetical paper on James 19:b-25 in the Book of James. I have been studying up on that passage as well as verses 1-18 in order to set the proper context and now I am about to write on this passage. There are three primary things that I am feeling right now when it comes to doing this huge paper.

1. I am very excited
I can't believe it. I am actually going to be doing exegesis for the very first time and actually try to find out what James meant to his readers when he was writing to them.. This will be the chance to "lead out of" the text and find the meaning that James intended to convey to his writers and to see the neat flow of thought that comes to the passage. I can now finally understand what was going on at the time and the background of the author and readers' situation that necessitated these verses to be written. I can actualy work with the grammar of the text and find the meaning of words to find all of the rich and colorful details that helps to articulate the meaning of the text. And finally I can see this exegesis as a way that God manifests His awesome beauty and grace and glory which can satisfy forever and forever. PRAISE GOD!

2. I am nervous
I will admit that I am very nervous because I have never made an attempt at exegesis before. This is a new experience and they can cause intense anxiety at times. Because I don't know Greek (yet) and also because by English grammar is horrible, I fear that I could totally slip up when I attempt to do my exegesis and this leads to the third point.

3. I must depend on the Holy Spirit.
Because I am finite and fallen, only the Holy Spirit who reveals and who inspires Scripture can enable me to see what is in the text. (1 Corinthians 2:6-16) Only He can help me to find what God said through the human authors. Only He can help me to know the infinite mind of my awesome God. And only He can help me to properly to this exegetical analysis of James 1:19b-25.

So I pray that the Holy Spirit will carry me through from start to end on this paper and to carry me through many more hard times at Eternity Bible College.