Journey Through The Bible
     Old Testament Reading: 1 Chronicles 12-14
     New Testament Reading: James 4

But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you (James 4:6-10).

Humility is one of the greatest marks of Christian maturity. Jesus modeled humility in His life and became the perfect example for us to follow. The Apostle Paul said that Believers are to Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross (Phil 2:5-8).

James, quoting Proverbs 3:34, explains that God gives abundant grace to those who are willing to humble themselves and trust God and draw their strength from Him.

Notice how James uses the word humble in this passage. In verse 6, he states God gives greater grace to the humble, and in verse 10, he reminds us to humble ourselves. What comes between is a series of commands that describe the process of becoming humble in God’s sight.

The first thing to do is to submit to God. This means that we must be subject to Him, surrendering our will to His control. We are to be ready to listen to Him and obey Him. We must be tender and contrite, not proud and stiff-necked.

Then we must resist the devil. We do this by closing our ears and hearts to his suggestions and temptations. We are to resist the urging of the world, telling us to assert ourselves, which often leads to conflict. If we resist him, he will flee from us.

Next, we are to draw near to God. We do this by spending time in His Word and by prayer. When we spend time with God talking to Him through prayer and really listening to Him as we read and study Scripture, we get to truly know Him and we find He will draw near to us.

The fourth step is to Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Hands speak of our actions and hearts represent our motives and desires. We cleanse our hands and purify our hearts through confession and forsaking sins, both outward and inward.

Our confession is to be accompanied by deep sorrow for our sin. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom (v9). We tend to treat sin too lightly, even to laugh about it. But sin is serious! When God the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, it is not time for levity. Rather, it is a time when we should humble ourselves before Him and mourn over our sinfulness. We should weep over our materialism, secularism, and formalism.

Finally, James sums up his advice: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you (v10).We are to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. If we honestly take our place at His feet, He will lift us up in due time.

God planned for his people to be distinct by their peaceful and humble attitudes. Both our words and actions mark these qualities. You were not made to climb that elusive mountain called Mount Applause. It is the most seductive of all, for the higher you climb, the more people applaud. More than one person has stood at the top and shouted, “Mine is the glory!” only to lose their balance and fall.

Instead, the mature Christian humbles themself before the Lord, exclaiming “To God be the glory!” And God will lift them up and He will exalt them.