December 13th~War of the Worlds

James 4:1-5:20
1

Timothy 1:1-2:15

We finished the book of James and opened a letter to Timothy. Timothy was Paul’s protégé, a young man very much like him, who had a deep love for the Church and its success. Thus, Paul sent Timothy as his representative to bring stability and order to various churches. Paul wrote this first letter from Macedonia. He had stationed Timothy in Ephesus (1:3). However, before we move on to read the instructions that Paul had for his mentoree, let’s consider the second half of the book of James.

Once again, every line of James’ letter is full of godly wisdom, giving counsel on topics ranging from the cause of quarreling and passing judgment on others to wealth and self-confidence to suffering and prayer. The stand-out verse to me was this one, “Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the world, you can’t be a friend of God” (4:4).

James sets the love that we have for God and the love that we have for this world in opposition to each other; and, he reminds us that we cannot love both. By the “world,” James is not referring to creation or to people; he is referring to the religious system behind the world order, which is under Satan’s influence. Therefore, to love the world, or the things of the world, is to love the Devil’s religious system.

However, one might say, “I don’t love the Devil or worship the Devil, so how can you say that I love the Devil’s religious system?” Satan is deceiving and smart. While many think that the Devil’s religious system is called Satanism, or the Occult, it is not. He is much more cunning than that. In the big scheme of things, very few people directly worship the Devil; however, the vast majority of the world worships the Devil indirectly by worshipping themselves.

Simply put, Satan’s religion is humanism, the worship of man or self.

Daily Reflection

Every person, including you, is caught between these two loves – the love of God and the love of the world – and every day, you make decisions that move you one step in either direction. Have you sensed this friction between love of God and love of the world or self? Explain.

You must be intentional to deepen your love for God or you will fall more in love with yourself and the things of this world. There is no such thing as neutral; for if you do nothing to deepen your love for God, your fleshly tendencies will move you in the opposite direction.

James contends that those who have surrendered to worldliness demonstrate a resistance to God (no evidence of salvation). The one who has been redeemed by Christ will show signs of resistance to the world. Since these two loves are in opposition to each other, the Christian, who is indwelled with the Holy Spirit, will desire the things of God; and, in time, the temptations of this world will slowly lose their effectiveness to distract his attention. Which direction are you moving, towards God or away from Him?

No doubt, this world has everything humans would want; but for followers of Christ, it has nothing that we need. Why would we cling to a system that will one day fail and fall, when we have a true, everlasting treasure in Jesus Christ?

BiAY.org | Day 347 — 18 Days to Go