James then exhorts both the poor and the rich Christian to remember that the sole basis of their confidence is their identification with Jesus Christ. The poor believer, insignificant and of no account in the eyes of the world, is to rejoice in his relationship with the Lord who has been exalted to the highest position in the universe. The rich believer, well-off and secure in his possessions, with great status in the eyes of the world, is to remember that his only lasting security comes through his relationship with the Man of sorrows, despised and rejected by men. Both Christians, in other words, must look at their lives from a heavenly and not an earthly perspective. And so God brings this test into our lives—the test of poverty or the test of riches—to see where our eyes are focused; is it on the earth, or is it above?1
Michael Voytek
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,