Writing today’s reflection has been a real challenge. James’ words are no simple truth, easily applied, or easy to skate over. These words, anointed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, penetrate to our very heart. As the writer of Hebrews asserts: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). James’ teaching exposes uncomfortable realities about us: about our motives; about our human nature; about our desire to get what we want (cf. 4:1-3).
James’ emotive, penetrating words, challenge us
to consider why we find ourselves warring with others; confronted with
unanswered prayers; and wondering at times why Jesus seems distant to us.
“You adulterous people” cries James, “friendship
with the world is hatred towards God”, he continues (4:4). James paints an image of the marriage between
Jesus and his followers (the Bride of Christ).
Adultery in this sense is our temptation to love the things of this world.
Clearly this is different from loving the world (loving people & caring for God’s creation), which is
central to the Gospel (John 3:16).
When we succumb to the temptation to love the things of this world we reject Jesus
as being sovereign in our whole lives.
We allow our hearts to be ‘taken’ by things, that in reality, pale into
insignificance compared to his great love, power and purposes for our
lives. When we allow the things of this
world to occupy our gaze and heart, our motives become skewed and
self-indulgent. We find ourselves
wanting things done our way, with our timing, to fulfil our purposes and
desires (James 4:2). When things don’t
go our way we get cross, or lash out with harsh words or actions (James
3). James paints a stark, challenging
picture for us in his letter!
Take a moment to stop reading at this point and
dwell on this. Let’s pause. Take a moment to read James chapter 4
again. Ask Jesus to highlight areas of
our lives where we find ourselves warring with others, or where our heart has
been ‘taken’ by the things of this world.
So what is the antidote? …..Submission and humility.
God’s grace is so vast, and his love to deep,
that he stretches his hand out to us, inviting us to return to a place of
absolute surrender before him. Only then
will we truly experience a greater measure of Christ’s love; a love that
surpasses knowledge. As we submit our
all before him and invite Jesus to be Lord over our whole lives, he works in us by His Spirit, transforming our
desires, our thinking, and our outlook on the things of this world. When we cooperate with Jesus‘ work in our
lives we see the greatest transformation in our attitudes and behaviour.
But there is a process to go through. In verses 7-10 of our reading today, James
challenges us to examine our lives and to begin this process of transformation
by submitting ourselves to God. He calls
us to resist the work of the devil, along with his temptations and lies, and
calls us to draw near to God. Choice is
a key factor in this: choice to submit; choice to intentionally draw near to
God in prayer, worship, study of the scriptures, and to play our part serving
others. Choice to turn away from the
wrong aspects of our lives, and the choice to invite Jesus to be the true king
over our lives. As we humbly do this,
Jesus will lift us up and transform our hearts, minds and lives for his glory
and the expansion of his Kingdom.
If
you are able, perhaps this is good opportunity to begin to deal with the things
that came to mind earlier on in today’s reflection. Take a moment to say sorry to Jesus for those
things, and invite him to help you change through the work of His Spirit. It would then be good to finish praying by
thanking and praising Jesus for his great love and faithfulness towards us.
(member of the staff team)