James 4:7 – 10 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
Flip through YouTube channels or TV channels and you will find all kinds of teaching on how to get blessings, how to become successful, how to promote yourself! Churches even conduct leadership conferences focusing on how you can present yourself better. And TV evangelists offer us all kinds of examples of plastic characters dressed in fancy suits with cheesy smiles proclaiming that “God wants you to be rich!” But is this really what God wants?
Put that question to the author of James, and he would answer a resounding “NO! NOT ON YOUR LIFE!” Jesus also had a great deal to say on this subject; in fact, he told a story about it. Luke 18: 10 – 14 “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
There is only one true living God. Satan was thrown out of heaven for attempting to set himself up as God. Any time we begin puffing ourselves up and preening ourselves, we are behaving in a satanic fashion and we’re setting ourselves up for disaster. Satan has been described as the “Father of Lies,” and he will tell you any lie he can, as long as he can get you to focus on your wants, your needs, your desires, rather than God’s perfect will for your life.
How do we draw near to God? “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” God is holy and righteous. If we harbor any kind of sin in our hearts, God will not be able to stand us, nor will we be able to stand God. Each time we try to pray, that sin is going to rise up and get in the way. Oh, we might be able to mouth words, but as for real communication with God, forget it!
“Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.” HUH??? What does this mean? Do we have to be miserable before we are acceptable to God? Well, yes and no. To approach God, we must confess our sins. Christians in an earlier age prayed for the gift of tears, the ability to grieve over their sins. Our sins grieve God; they should also grieve us. On the other hand, God wants to give us “joy unspeakable and full of glory,” that is, holy joy and holy laughter, joy without any regrets. It’s like trading in a cheap plastic ring for one with gold and precious jewels – once you see the real thing, you have no taste for imitations.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” There is only one God. You can set yourself up as your own god, but that means there will be no room in your heart for the one true living God, the one who made you, who knows you better than you know yourself, and who loves you more than you can possibly love yourself.
So, what’s it going to be? Imitation joy or the real thing? Self- worship, or worship of the only true living God, the only One in the universe worthy of worship? The choice is yours, but choose carefully! If you choose to worship yourself, God will let you, but you will never draw close to Him and He will never draw close to you. And at the end of time, you will hear those terrible words, “Depart from me! I never knew you!”
PRAYER: Father God, help us to let go of our self – worship! Show us our sins and let us confess them! We beg you to cleanse our hearts so that we will be fit to draw near to you. And help us to humble ourselves so that you can lift us up and give us your joy. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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