"Jealous God" September 22 Readings: James 4-5

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT. 

Bible Readings:  James 4-5  

Background:   

James did not get the memo that "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," nor did he understand that those who proclaimed God's word were to be unfailingly positive and encouraging. In James 4 he blistered his hearers for their spiritual adultery and their friendship with the world. As they got away from Jerusalem and from the center of worship they tended to adjust to the ways of the world and adopt the practices of the peoples with whom they lived.

Two other key teachings are found in chapter 4. James begins the chapter with a teaching on prayer and he ends it with an exhortation toward humility about the future.

James 5 concludes with a series of teachings that may go against some of our commonly held ideas. Verses 1-6 are a harsh condemnation of riches, one that strikes hard at a wealthy nation such as ours. He is condemning riches gained by oppression and we are reminded that the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil.

He reiterates his teaching on the blessing of suffering from chapter 1, then teaches on the power of prayer, and finishes with an admonition to restore those who struggle and fall.  

Daily Devotional: A Jealous God 

On August 27, 1978, I stood in front of a preacher (who doubled as my father) and made promises to God and to the woman standing next to me. I promised to stick with her for better and worse, richer and poorer, in sickness and in health. But along with those positive promises I also made a negative commitment.

"Forsaking all others."

Marrying one woman meant that I had to give up all the others. Saying yes to Jenni meant saying no to every other woman in the world. A positive commitment to one woman implies a negative commitment to all others.

We sometimes forget that as the "Bride of Christ" a similar commitment is required of all of us. We are to declare our love and commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He is to be the primary passion of our lives. What we sometimes forget is that our positive commitment to Christ also requires a negative commitment to all others.

James spells this out in chapter 4, verses 4-5.

Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. Or do you think it’s without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously?

Verse 4 starts with a harsh accusation, "Adulteresses!" The Bride of Christ is cheating on the Savior, refusing to be faithful to its marriage vows. Then, verse 4 identifies the other man, the one with whom the church was committing adultery. They were engaged in a "friendship with the world" and friendship with the world is by definition hostility toward God. When you cheat on the Savior with this world - its pleasures and passions - it makes us enemies of God. In verse 5 we see that it even arouses jealousy.

There is an old saw, "we are in this world but not of this world." It is true, but it is also the greatest challenge ever. We are not called to live as hermits, to separate completely from this world. We live our lives here and are even allowed to enjoy that life. But we are never to love this world or the things in the world. Our hearts must belong to God as a husband's must belong solely to his wife.

We must seek that balance every day as we live in this wicked world. We live, love, eat, drink, work and play in this world, but our hearts must belong to Christ. He must be the one we love, the one we seek to please, and the one whose interests we serve. We must be loyal to Christ above all.

Forsaking all others, I must keep me only unto him, so long as I shall live!

Father, help me to be faithful, to keep my heart set on Christ above all things. 

 

Consider God's Word:

If you gave your husband or wife the same level of fidelity that you give to Christ, what would be the state of your marriage?
Do you struggle with being too much a friend of the world, forgetting that we must love Christ and not this sinful world?
When James says that God's Spirit is jealous, what does that mean?