“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'”
Just when you thought James was calming down, it turns out he was just getting started. The prophetic name-calling should certainly get our attention if nothing else. You probably haven’t thought too much about whether or not you are cheating on God before. But most likely you are. We are all incapable of faithfulness (remember those evil desires from yesterday’s post?). Every time we flirt with the world we are cheating on God.
So how do you know if you are dating the world? It may help to look at some of its common forms of seduction: money, power, fame, looks, status, stuff. If you care much about any of these things, the world has you wrapped around its finger and is luring you away from God as we speak. God generously gives us the Holy Spirit when we begin to follow Jesus. Our spirits and God’s spirits unite in a way very similar to marriage, and that union is something God is very passionate about. And yes, there’s grace. But there is also getting over yourself.
Even more accurately, God is passionately pursuing us. As a church. His Holy Spirit uniting with all of our united spirits in a marriage for all eternity. As the church, we must remain faithful to the Spirit of the living God. This faithfulness requires great humility as well as a constant seeking of God’s presence and a deep understanding of Scripture. May we all seek to fulfill our roles well in this supernatural wonder.