Stay humble before God.
Scripture:
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Observation:
The apostle has been teaching throughout the course of his letter on trusting in and relying upon God rather than in us or in the world. In fact, he teaches that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Friendship with the world can lead to pride, the sin that so easily entangles, and opposition from God. Remember, God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.
Application:
We, all, can stand to learn a lesson from James in practicing being more humble. The apostle says in his text that if we humble ourselves before God, God will lift us up. Notice he does not say that promoting self will result in God lifting us up but rather submission to God results in his lifting us up, as God sees fit.
The one thing that God will not do is sharing his glory with another. He is a jealous God! The devil tried to assume the leadership of heaven and was dismissed from heaven by God. Herod Antipas learned the hard way, too, about trying to receive God’s glory. He accepted praise from his subjects, as if he were a god. He dropped dead immediately thereafter and was eaten by worms. If you puff yourself up in pride, you are attempting to share glory reserved only for the King of kings, His Majesty, Yahweh.
You run the risk of being brought low by God. He may not cause you to drop dead like Herod or cast you from heaven like Lucifer, but you will be brought low one way or another. You will in fact cast yourself into the flames of hell if you don’t submit your life to God and accept his love gift of the atoning work of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Your refusal of this gift of eternal life will result in your personally selected gift of eternal death, or eternal separation from God.
Live a life submitted to the one, true, living God, and in due time as he deems worthy, he will raise you up. Learn to trust in him and rely on him not yourself or others.
Prayer:
Father, I submit myself to you today. I see the continued need of humbling myself before you and remaining being subjected to you. I don’t want to run afoul of your resistance, as one who would have great pride or being guilty of arrogance. Teach me your ways that I may stay humble in your eyes and mine. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
