Reading: James 4:1-12
Speaker: Tommy Pratt
Thoughts on Wise Living
I think I am starting to get it. Are you?
Week by week, James’ letter to the early church is starting to make sense. A letter that lived in many of our minds as “that epistle about Christian works” is fast becoming something else. Something deep and spiritual. Something about relationship.
Having taught on faith and endurance, listening and doing, good deeds and dead works, James now has us waist deep in wisdom. And I am starting to get it. I am seeing that openness, self-control, and humility are not ends unto themselves. They are not Christian medals of honour, but stepping stones along the way, and the destination is God.
This part of James felt like drinking from a fire hose when I first read it. Then a verse leapt out at me: “Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (James 4:8). All of us feel that nearness and intimacy with the Lord is a priority. And James thinks it ranks as number one. This is why he guides our Christian conduct. Because even for the saved, earthly actions either bind us to or alienate us from God.
This wisdom section of James bridges Old and New Testaments. He echoes leaders like Moses and Joshua. Words like “wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world” (James 4:8) evoke warnings to Israel during their wilderness wandering. Then, in the very next verse, James gives his own rendition of Christ’s beatitudes, saying: “Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy” (4:9).
How does all this relate back to closeness and intimacy with God? Jesus tells us in His most famous sermon. The one way up on the mount. “God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:3). The Lord shocks His hearers by telling them this. That by seeing their need for God, by washing their hands of sin and purifying their hearts, they come close to God.
And how does God respond when we come close to Him? James has already told us. The Lord of all glory, ruler of heaven and earth, stoops to come close to us. God sees our need, our humble spirit, and He lifts us up in honour (James 4:10). This is a God I do not deserve closeness with, but it is closeness I am daily eager to receive.