November 20

Ezekiel 40:28-41:26; James 4:1-17; Psalm 118:19-29; Proverbs 28:3-5

Our chapter in James today is full of good, hard questions and commands, isn't it?

I couldn't help but think of the times I'm impatient with our children when I read.  "You want something but don't get it" (Jam. 4:2), and when I want order or quiet or efficiency and don't get it, I lash out at them.  Children are fundamentally disorderly, loud, and inefficient!  (And lovable.)

I remembered praying to make the cheerleading squad in junior high, telling God it would open opportunities for me to be the light of Jesus, but knowing I really just wanted to find my way into the popular crowd.  "When you ask, ... you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (Jam. 4:3).  Ouch.

"God opposes the proud" (Jam. 4:6).  Oppose is a very strong, set-against sort of word, just as pride is a very strong, set-against sort of attitude.

"Grieve, mourn and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom" (Jam. 4:9).  I don't understand why humility and happiness seem at odds.

"Who are you to judge your neighbor?" (Jam. 4:12)  I've made far too many comments about my literal neighbors and about my figurative neighbors.  (See "God opposes the proud," above.)

"All such boasting is evil" (Jam. 4:16).  I'm a planner.  I set a course and then list the steps to make it happen.  And then I congratulate myself when my actions result in a favorable conclusion.  I forget how much I owe to a physically strong body (courtesy of God), a strong impulse to save financially (courtesy of observing my parents), a democratic, capitalistic society (courtesy of the Founding Fathers).

And the most convicting of all: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (Jam. 4:17). Oh, boy.

Nestled among these needed course-corrections, though, is encouragement beyond all hope: "Come near to God and he will come near to you" (Jam. 4:8).  What a beautiful truth!  As we humble ourselves and acknowledge our dependence, God is available and present to us.  

Advent is approaching, and I've been caught again and again by the incredible gift of the incarnation.  God became man and dwelt among us.  "Immanuel" - God is with us.  God's heart is always toward us; his presence is always intimately close by; his spirit lives within us.  God is already near to us - how can that not make us want to be nearer to him?  

Thanksgiving, too, is near, and I've realized again how thankful I am for God's Word.  It encourages me; it convicts me; it reveals truth about God to me and also truth about myself.  It is beautiful and powerful and such an incredible opportunity to know God, and, this year, it has been a way to interact with all of you.  I'm grateful.

- Sarah Marsh

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