Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. James 4:10 NABRE
James is challenging readers to a program of conversion. In three short verses James gives a set of instructions that will lead us to be humble servants of God, least on earth but great in the Kingdom of God. James says, submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee, draw near to God and he will draw near to you, cleanse your hands (make your conduct pure), purify your hearts (renounce wrong.) James goes on to instruct us to lament, mourn and weep, let our laughter be turned into mourning, James knows that the closer we get to God, to holiness and love, we will more deeply perceive our sinfulness, which makes us sorrowful before God. James finishes out these instructions with the quoted verse, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” God will not spurn the broken heart and while we bow down in grief and sorrow for our sins, God will reach out to us, raise us and exalt us. “My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.” (Psalms 51:19)
God is God and we are not. Trying to be in control with pride and power we are saying we do not need God, we can do it ourselves. While we may find for many things this individualism is true, for anything truly important it is not. We cannot convert even our self from sin without others, particularly without those who love us. We are difficult to love thinking we have all the power we need, and humility is foreign to us. The closer we get to God the more we see through His light the specks and dirt that weigh us down. Jesus often points to people humble and with humility as being the most in God’s eyes. Don’t be an individual who needs no one, lower yourself to depend on God.
Can you take James’ challenge? Do you know how to be humble?
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