<p>1:8- see on Mt. 14:31.</p><p><i>He is a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways</i>- The theme of semi-spirituality continues: &quot;A double minded man is unstable in all his ways&quot;- i.e. all his spiritual ways. &quot;Ways&quot; is often used in a spiritual context in Proverbs, to which James alludes so much. The more evident allusion here is to Mt. 6:24: &quot;No man can serve two masters: for he will hate the one, and love the other. You cannot serve God and mammon&quot;. James inspired interpretation of Matthew would make this apply to our minds. One can quite easily serve two masters physically, externally; as every self-examining Christian should be all too aware. It is only in our heart that we can only serve one master. &quot;Mammon&quot; in the James context is thus not just material goods, but more importantly the lack of a totally spiritual mind which is behind these things. Note again the 'all or nothing' approach. While surely every reader of these words finds this somewhat worrying, tempting to conclude that this exposition is so idealistic as to be out of touch with reality, it does us no harm to reflect that ultimately in God's sight things are in black and white. As we read these words we are either in black or white with God. The ideal standard is set by Christ speaking of taking up the cross daily and following him. &quot;To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain&quot; Paul could say. If our conscience is tuned according to the word, we should be able to sense whether we are &quot;double minded... wavering&quot; or with that totality of commitment to the word in our heart, even if sometimes we falter. Considering these things should make us all recognize that spiritually we are but candles in the wind, desperately needing to make every effort to resist the winds of the flesh, and seek the shelter of Christ and His word of grace which keeps us from falling. &quot;Double minded&quot; means literally 'two souled', showing that the soul can refer also to the spiritual side of man, as well as the carnal. Notice how in the context James is talking about the mind being split into carnal and semi-spiritual divisions. The 'souls' referred to in the phrase 'double minded' would therefore be referring to attitudes of mind.</p>