James
4:1-3
As we begin chapter four, James is
continuing his theme from the previous chapter by telling us once again the
problems that greed, envy and selfishness can bring into our lives. In fact,
James tells us that wars, quarrels and fighting in our relationships and in
this world are in large part a result of our selfish desires.
James tells us that we desire to have
something that someone else has so we go to battle and kill. We covet what
another person or a country has, so we are willing to resort to violent means
in order to get it.
In essence, what James is getting at is
that wars, arguments, and sinfulness in general are rooted in greed and
selfishness with selfishness being the key problem. If we think about our needs
and ourself all the time it makes us puffed up with pride. It causes us not to
care about anyone or anything except the satisfaction of our own desires, and
this is contrary to the example of Jesus whose whole life and ministry were
about selflessness, humility, non-violence, and loving-kindness.
James tells us that if we desire to have
something in life, we need to ask God. But we need to have the right motives.
We are not to go around asking God for things just so we can have our own
selfish desires satisfied. When we ask for things, we are to ask with the
motive of using the things that God has given to us for the betterment of this
world and the people and the creatures within it.
James
4:4-6
These next three verses contain two very
important points. Let’s consider the first. Being a friend of the world means
that we are enemies of God. Being a friend of the world means that we do things
the way that people in the world who don’t know God do them. This world is in
rebellion against God. This world believes in things that are in entire
contradiction to the things of God. This world teaches that greed is good and
selfishness is right. It teaches that might makes right and that the
accumulation of position and possessions are what will bring happiness. This is
not the teaching of Jesus. He told us that it profits a person nothing if they
should gain the whole world and yet lose their own soul.
To be a friend of God means to follow the
teachings and the commandments of Jesus. It means being humble and loving God
with all our heart, soul, mind and strength as well as loving our neighbor as
ourselves. Being a friend of God means doing unto others as we would have done
unto us.
Now, there is another important teaching in
these verses. In verse 6 we read, “God opposes the proud, but gives favor to
the humble.” God does not approve of a prideful heart. A heart lifted up in
pride is what got Satan in trouble in the first place. A prideful heart says
that it can be good without God. It says that man’s way is the right way, and
the God’s way is not worth following.
On the other hand, the humble person
receives God’s grace. A good example is from the teaching of Jesus. He told the
parable of the Pharisee and tax collector. The Pharisee prayed telling God all
of the good things that he had done. He was so glad he wasn’t like that sinful
tax collector standing next to him. The tax collector would not even lift his
eyes to Heaven. Instead, he said Lord be merciful to me a sinner. Jesus said
that the tax collector and not the Pharisee was the one who went home
justified. God gives grace to the humble, but He rejects those who are lifted
up with pride and self-righteousness.
James
4:7-10
On the continuing theme of humility, James
exhorts his readers to submit to God and resist the devil. Being a humble
person requires submission. We submit to God knowing that His way is the best
way. We submit to obeying His laws and commandments. We submit to the path that
Jesus has called His followers to walk. We must also submit to the Lord’s will
that He has for us as individuals. Whatever the Lord has called us to do for
Him in this world, that is what we need to be about doing.
We are to resist the devil. Satan was the
opposite of humble. He was lifted up with pride and thought that he could take
over for God. He led a rebellion in the heavens and was followed by one-third
of the angels. He was cast out of heaven, and he opposes God and what God wants
to do in the world and in the lives of people to this day.
Those who have the desire in their heart
to be close to God, God will draw close to them. As Jesus said, He will not
cast out any person who comes to Him. Whoever will may come. Come unto Me all
you who labor and are heavy laden Jesus said.
James goes on in this section to call
sinners to repentance. He is calling people away from sin and back to a proper
and right relationship with the Lord. Those who do not know God are urged to
purify themselves. They must mourn for there sins so that joy will come from
having a right relationship with the Father through the Son.
James
4:11-12
These next two verses are very similar to
the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. If you remember, I said that
James is telling us many of the things that Jesus taught while He was on this
earth. Jesus told us not to judge others. We should not try to judge a person’s
motives or intentions because we have absolutely no way of knowing what is in
another person’s heart. Also, Jesus told us that we need to get the beam out of
our own eye before we worry about the speck that is in our brother’s eye.
Verse 12 is so important. We are not to
judge our neighbor. We are to follow the teaching of Jesus when He calls us to
love our neighbors as ourselves.
James
4:13-17
This section has a deep personal resonance
with me. I am writing this on the 16th anniversary of the death of
my father. What happened to him encapsulates these verses. My dad got a report
that he was in the best health of his life. He had been waiting to get the call
from the doctor, and he hadn’t gone to pick up his dog from the veterinarian
yet. He walked out the door to drive over to the vet’s office and told me we
would go to get something to eat when he got back. That is the last thing my
dad ever said to me. He died of a stroke.
One of my best friends had the flu. I
talked to him on the phone on Friday afternoon. He told me he was doing better,
and that on Monday, we would work on the lawnmower we were repairing. On Monday
morning he died.
Life is short. It is here and then gone,
and no one is promised a tomorrow. With that in mind, we all need to go about
doing good and serving the Lord now. We need to tell and show people we love
them now. There may not be a tomorrow to do it.
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