submit yourselves

 

First time turning on the fireplace in a long time. It has been awesome coming back from Orlando to some chillier morning air. I love it! 

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. -James 4:7-10

I've often heard "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," but sometimes the beginning of that verse is omitted. However, the beginning is the most important part. We must be in submission to the Lord first. How can we expect to fight against the devil and his schemes if we haven't surrendered ourselves over to God? If you try to fight the devil on your own, it is all in vain. He won't flee. He might hide behind a corner for a bit, but he's always lurking in the shadows. He'll be back.

Then the passage in James gets a little darker, because it tells us that we will grieve and mourn and wail the loss of our sinful lives because basically, sin is fun and addictive. We become slaves to sin and when you 'break up' with something that has been a part of your life for a long, long time, it hurts. It pains you. You will grieve and internally scream, and regret your decision to ever have entered that sinful lifestyle to begin with.

But none of this can even begin to occur until you agree to surrender control. Control is an illusion anyway. It's not like we really have too much control over what goes on in our lives. We really can only control how we respond in any given situation. Might as well admit that to the Lord. "I need help. I can't do this alone. I give up this illusion control." You know, Jesus take the wheel. Jesus, take over the entire car. 

You can try to live a double-minded life. One foot in, one foot out. But the Lord calls that being lukewarm, and that disgusts him so much that he wants to spit it right out. Humble yourself before him, and he will lift your spirit up to him. Submit your life to him and he promises to draw close to you. We always need our Savior, but it is especially imperative in this particular time we are living in.