Key Verse: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t
they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but
don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You
quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
James 4:1-2
It’s an act of the will. At first, it seems as if Jesus is
changing the subject. He had been talking about murder and now He has moved on
to quarreling. James, however, helps us to see that Jesus is continuing on the
same theme, murder in the heart.
James and Jesus help us to also consider how much control we
have over many given situations when we are in disagreement with another. Jesus
warns us that it is better for us to take the initiative to do what we can to
seek reconciliation, before the situation gets out of our control and we become
victims of the consequences of our desires. James assures us that if we,
“resist the devil,” and the impure thoughts that he is causing us to have,
that, “he will flee.” It’s up to us to turn our backs on him.
How do we do this? By an act of our will. We must “leave our
offering,” and desire to be reconciled. Leave our offering exposed and
unprotected? Yes. Reconciliation is more important than any gift, any sacrifice
we could make to God.
“But,” you may ask, “How can I when I have been hurt so
badly?” Again, James helps us by telling us that, if we ask, “He gives us more
grace….God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
Chances are that it is our pride that caused us to quarrel in the first place.
It is His gift of grace that enables us to extend grace to another. In
humbleness, we extend God’s grace and in return, God will receive our offering
and in so doing, we will be exalted.
“Come near to God and He will come near to you. Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:8A-&-10)
On day 78, we talked about peace-making and how Jesus
Himself came to be a peace-maker between us and God. He came to earth seeking
reconciliation with us and we are less deserving of His peace than any of our
fellowmen for our peace. Jesus is not asking anything of us here that He
Himself has not already done. He knows that it can be hard. After all, the cost
of reconciliation with us was His blood. No lesser price would do. He became
the offering, left exposed on the cross, to pursue us and bring us home.
He didn’t sweep our sin under the rug, so to speak and
pretend that it never happened. No, He acknowledged our sin and then paid for
the damage. Jesus is not asking any less of us. He acknowledges that we may
have been hurt and that we may have good reason to feel the way we do. Someone
else’s wrong may need to be acknowledged. In our hearts, however, we should
always be hoping for and seeking reconciliation. If the offender does not receive
it, that is between that person and God. Our heart’s desire is also a matter
between us and God and for us that is what matters.
Hymn: “He Giveth More Grace”
Comments
Post a Comment