Opening Prayer
Lord, as I come to your Word, help me to set aside anything that would distract me from hearing your voice today.
Read JAMES 4:1–12
Submit Yourselves to God
4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”[c]
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Footnotes
- James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.
- James 4:5 Or that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely; or that the Spirit he caused to dwell in us longs jealously
- James 4:6 Prov. 3:34
- James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Follow God’s example … and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’1
Think Further
Despite the chapter break, James is pursuing the same thought as in our reading yesterday, as he continues to address how the two kinds of wisdom are worked out in the community.
James describes a community that is as far from a demonstration of true wisdom as it is possible to get (vv. 1–5). Discord, fights, and quarrels appear to be the norm. The problem has its roots in the desire of some in the community to be friends with the world – but this is not a neutral friendship. It is a statement of one’s position vis-à-vis God. James uses an Old Testament metaphor with which God castigated his people for failure to live as he commanded – the metaphor of adultery.2 The remedy for this is given in verse 6 with a quotation from Proverbs 3:34, emphasizing the humility that should characterize Christ’s followers. How is that humility demonstrated?
Through ‘a staccato barrage of short commands’3 and obedience to these (vv. 7–10), the believer can stop being ‘double-minded’ (v. 8), draw near to God and see his or her life and community transformed. Running as a thread throughout Scripture is the importance of community. That thread continues in James as he highlights the behavior that enhances and does not fracture community life. It is true that community life is not necessarily easy. In the West, at least, we need to lose our focus on individualism and realize that we all, wherever we are located, are called to be part of a community. Community life needs to flourish. What are you doing to enhance your community life? What might you be doing that fractures the community? Look again at verses 7–10. Are you living this way?
Apply
‘The Christian is saved not in isolation but as a member of the community.’4 Does your life enhance the community of which you are part?
Closing prayer
Father, be at work in my community of faith; help us to work together to share the Good News and impact those around us with the gospel.
Last Updated on April 11, 2024 by kingstar
