March 16 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 75—James 4:6–10

⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Devotional:

In 4:1–6, God diagnosed a problem, worldliness. In 4:7–10, he prescribes its solution, repentance. People don’t want to hear about repentance today. Our modern generation would rather approach God as an equal. The problem boils down to pride. And that implies the solution, humility before God.

First, "submit yourselves therefore to God" (v. 7). Submission involves recognizing God’s authority. You’re already under his authority, but repentance involves willingly submitting yourself to it.

Second, "resist the devil and he will flee from you" (v. 7). How do you resist the devil? By submitting to God. Our Lord Jesus defeated Satan when he went to the cross and died for sinners. He conquered sin and death and then he arose victorious from the dead. Satan is a defeated enemy. But you experience that victory only when you submit to Satan’s Conqueror.

When I was a boy, my family had a little dog, a Pomeranian, with the "valiant" name of "Fluffy." It described her well—she really was a tiny ball of fluff. When my dad was working outside she would keep him company, following him around. But if ever a large dog wandered into our yard, she really was valiant in chasing it away—as long as my father was in sight. Sometimes my dad would play a joke and hide behind a bush or in the garage. If Fluffy ever lost sight of my dad, she would turn tail and run straight for our house. That’s a good illustration of the Christian’s warfare with the devil. It is only when the Lord Jesus is behind you that Satan will flee. Venture out in your own strength and expect to fail. If you catch yourself doing this, turn tail and run straight to the throne of grace. Submit yourself to God—day by day and moment by moment—and you will have the victory.

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.