The solution to our prideful arrogance and insistence on our own way is to submit ourselves to God (James 4:7). Submission entails showing the appropriate respect, honor, and obedience that is due to God. It is to repudiate our egotism, our aloofness, our insistence on our own way in order to embrace God’s way. Likewise, we must resist the devil, oppose what he is trying to do in our minds and hearts. The devil wants to puff us up with pride so that God resists us, but when we humble ourselves we discover God’s grace to resist the devil.
To cleanse our hands and purify our hearts (James 4:8) is sacrificial language. Cleansing and purification today are not through offering fresh sacrifices or through ceremonial washings, but through freshly acknowledging our need for the blood of the lamb. Christ died to cleanse and purify our hearts and hands. The mention of both hands and hearts tells us that real repentance is not just a matter of the heart but should affect the actions of our hands. Likewise, it’s not just a matter of cleaning up the outward behavior of our hands, but must go all the way to our hearts. This is a transformation God alone can do in us and he does so as he humbly submit ourselves to him moment-by-moment.
Questions:
- What are some practical ways you can submit yourself before God today?
- How can you turn from prideful insistence on your own way to submit to God’s way? What needs to change about your actions (hands) and your attitudes (heart)?
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