James 4:1–17

Introduction

James 4:1–17: James argues that friendship with the world is opposed to friendship with God. To overcome the Devil and our desires for pleasure, we must submit to God in repentance and humility. We should refrain from judging fellow Christians and avoid prideful boasting, for our life is like a “puff of smoke” and we do not know what tomorrow will bring.

Today’s Key Verse: James 4:10 GNT

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Read

4 Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. ² You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. ³ And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures. ⁴ Unfaithful people! Don’t you know that to be the world’s friend means to be God’s enemy? If you want to be the world’s friend, you make yourself God’s enemy. ⁵ Don’t think that there is no truth in the scripture that says, “The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires.” ⁶ But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷ So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites! ⁹ Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom! ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

¹¹ Do not criticize one another, my friends. If you criticize or judge another Christian, you criticize and judge the Law. If you judge the Law, then you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it. ¹² God is the only lawgiver and judge. He alone can save and destroy. Who do you think you are, to judge someone else?

¹³ Now listen to me, you that say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.” ¹⁴ You don’t even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. ¹⁵ What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you are proud, and you boast; all such boasting is wrong.

¹⁷ So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin.

Reflect

Why do pleasure-seeking people not get what they want, even if they ask God for it (verses 2–3)? What does God give that is even stronger than our misplaced desires (verse 6)? James says that when we judge another Christian we judge the Law itself (verse 11). Why is this the case, and why is it bad? James says we are guilty of sin not only when we do evil but even “if we do not do the good we know we should do.” Are there things you have left undone that God is calling you to do?

Pray

Lord God, you are holy and righteous; sin has no place in you. Give us the grace to overcome worldly desires and to do the good we know we should do. Help us be patient with others, knowing you are the judge and lawgiver and we your humble servants. Amen.

Tomorrow’s Reading

James 5:1–20: James warns the rich and calls for patience and hope.