James 1:8

‘A doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.'

For the man who is looking both ways at once will be prone to accidents. He will not know whether to do this or that. He will be ‘unstable (disordered) in all his ways', first moving one way and then another, never quite sure what to do next. And the only way in which to avoid such double-mindedness is to draw near to God, to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts, and to mourn over our sin, humbling ourselves before God (James 4:8). It is as we do this that we will learn true wisdom, and become fixed in our minds.

The letter will end with a similar requirement for steadfast faith and an expression of confidence in God's willingness to answer prayer as we see in James 5:13.