Day 333: Pure love – James 4 vs 4 – 10

4 You adulterous people, 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?  6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  8-9 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 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. James 4:4-10 New International Bible

The first three verses of this chapter had warned against greedy and self seeking desires which lead to envy, quarrels and violence. Verse 4 today says that chasing after the things of this world is like committing spiritual adultery against the Lord. And, whether vs 5 is referring to our human spirit or the Holy Spirit, the point is that God loves us with a jealous love. Jealousy is bad if we are jealous over what other people have – but it's not wrong when it's to do with wanting pure love in a relationship. In Exodus 34:14 Moses said to the Israelites “You shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14) God loves His people with a pure and faithful love, and He yearns for that in return. What does James remind them of that would help when they were being tempted by things of the world? (vs 6)

God gives help to those who humble themselves. James may have had in mind a verse from the Old Testament like Psalm 138:6 which says: “Though the Lord is great, He cares for the humble. But He keeps His distance from the proud.” God cares for those who want a relationship with Him rather than being a big shot in the world. What else do we need to do when we face strong temptations or tests of our faith? (vs 7)

Earlier in James he told Christians they mustn't 'blame the devil' when they are tempted because it is our own hearts that lust after things in the world. But that doesn't mean Satan will never try and trip us up because of our passions, or that he won't try and lure us away from God's will with things of the world. He even tried to do that to Jesus. But by submitting to God's word and His will and saying no to the Devil, we will find that Satan eventually retreats. Some sins have a stronger hold in our lives than others. But if we persistently reject them they do grow weaker. That's why people who turn to Jesus Christ for salvation have been able to get out of the pit of even strong addictions to things like alcohol, drugs or porn.

Verse 8-9 are very strong. It seems that James was crying out to those who professed to be disciples of Jesus, but who were obviously still in love with the ways of the world. He calls them 'double-minded'. Today we use the expression 'two-faced'. Imagine a relationship where a chap was still trying to have flings with ex-girlfriends! So James was calling such people to deep repentance. They needed to put their happy-go-lucky party spirit and night clubbing aside and to seek the Lord - even with deep tears of sorrow for their attitudes and behaviour.

Two thoughts to end with. These verses show that even in those days there were people who said they were Christians, but whose lifestyle looked like they were still in love with the world. Their love for God was not a pure love. It was as mixed and sinful as someone committing adultery. But the good news is that if they humble themselves before God and turn from their shallow lifestyle – how will God respond? (vs 10)

What an amazing God we have! Even when we've forgotten how He gave His Son to die for our sins – He is still willing to lift us up again and restore our relationship with Himself. Oh may our love for Him be as pure and faithful as His is for us.