4Adulteresses!
Do you not know the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore,
whoever chooses to be a friend of the world has become an enemy of God. 5Or
do you suppose that the Scripture says emptily the spirit dwelling in us lusts
toward envy? 6But He gives more grace, therefore it says, “God
opposes proud ones but gives grace to humble ones.” 7Therefore,
submit yourselves to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse [your] hands, sinners, and
purify [your] hearts, double-minded. 9Be miserable and be sad and
cry tears. Let the laughter of yours be turned into sadness and the joy into
dejection. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you
up.
Verse 8 is an interesting verse in the middle of all of
this: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” What is first of all
interesting to me is that, in a sense, we can’t be any closer to God. “For He is not far from any of us, for in Him we
live and move and have our being ” (Acts 17:27,28). As David observed, “You hem
me in – behind and before … Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee
from Your presence? … if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your
right hand will hold me fast” (Ps 139:5-10). God is Omnipresent. He fills all
of the universe with all of His being everywhere at the same time. He is
everywhere present. As Jay Adams once observed, “God is our environment!”
So, in a sense, does anyone else see the absurdity of the
situation? How can I need to draw near the God in whom I live and move and have
my being? I actually can’t possibly be any closer to Him. What can I conclude?
First of all, obviously the “nearness” problem lies entirely within me and secondly,
it is clearly not a physical problem (not a “distance” to be measured), but
rather a spiritual problem – which is obvious, but I think it needs to be put
on the table as I think through the verse. More on this later.
I have to say first of all that I like the fact that God is
so “near” to us. I love Paul’s words that the very Gospel itself is already near us: “The Word is near you;
it is in your mouth and in your heart, this word of faith we’re proclaiming …”
I love that salvation and faith are actually that close to every human being. The words “God, save me” are
literally on the tip of every human tongue. They are already in our mouths and
in our hearts. I suspect this is true because the “nearness” problem is not
physical but rather purely spiritual – in other words, because God Himself is
already near us, there is but that sheet thin wall of blindness and pride that
keeps us from falling into His arms.
And I love what Asaph said, “But as for me, it is good to be
near God” (Ps 73:28). Yes, it is good to be near God. Once again, it’s not that
He’s ever far from us. It’s just that we
have to let down the wall and allow His nearness to envelope us. Asaph’s point
is that, if only we will, we’ll find it a very good thing. When we come boldly
to the throne of grace, what do we find? “Mercy and grace to help in our time
of need” (Heb 4:16). Jesus promised, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast
out” (Jn 6:37). The leper said to Jesus, “If you are willing, you can make me
clean.” And what does the Bible say was Jesus’ response? “Filled with
compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He
said, ‘Be clean!’”
I guess I just want
to echo Asaph’s words: “But as for me, it is good to be near God” There is no
safer, warmer place to be than in His lap, wrapped up in His big arms, so close
you can hear His heart beating. In our absurd blindness and pride, we either
simply don’t acknowledge Him or very deliberately push Him away. That is the
singularly most stupid thing we ever, ever do as we go about our lives down
here. Utterly cosmic folly.
Another thing I think worth noting: As I’ve observed before,
James is writing to “religious” people. He’s writing specifically to Jews (1:1).
He’s writing to the “religiously comfortable” and I believe he’s trying to
shock them out of their lethargy. Isn’t it interesting that he needs to tell
them to “draw near to God?” They could easily respond, “Near to God? We are God’s people! And even better than that, we’re Jewish Christians! Our whole lives are
built around our religion! Of course we’re near
to God!” But, the problem is, does “religion” or religious practice make us
near to God? I would suggest a very loud “No!” I would even suggest the very
Jewish people are living proof that religious associations and activities don’t
mean we’re near to God. As Jesus said of them, “They draw near me with their
mouths, but their hearts are far from Me.”
Ah. Their hearts.
Here is where the nature of nearness gets personal. We all are ready to
acknowledge it’s not a matter of physical nearness, that it is a spiritual
business – then somehow content ourselves that being “religious” is good
enough. How many people honestly believe that because they go to church
regularly, they have a relationship with God? Others not only go to church
regularly but also go on to immerse themselves in church “ministry” and imagine
that because they’re “serving God” so much, they have a relationship with him.
We’re no different than the Jewish people of old. We said we know the nearness
is a spiritual issue – but have we really dealt with it?
James’ charge to “draw near to God” is a charge to do
exactly that. Not to “go to church.” Not to get head over heels “busy at
church.” But to actually, deliberately, and personally draw near to God. To see that awful wall of pride and folly that so
easily stands between us and our God. To claim the blood of Jesus that broke
down that wall, that “rent the veil from top to bottom.” And to actually look
into the face of God and say, “I love you.”
Lord help us all. When He calls us to “draw near to God,”
may we not be found thinking, “He’s speaking to all those people who need to
draw near Him. I’m one of those people who’s got this covered. Too bad so many
others don’t.” God help us. He’s talking to me!
May I never be content except when it’s really true that
I’ve “drawn near to God.”
And I’ll live with this promise, that if I draw near to God,
“He will draw near to me!” “He is not far from us, … for in Him we live and
move and have our being.”
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