Friday 25/1/13

James 4:7-8 ESV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

"Submit to God" means yielding our wishes and decisions to God, following His way, obeying His commandments instead of the desires of our flesh or the principles of the world. That means distant ourselves from the Devil and the worldly way, but draw near to God and the Godly way. If we resist the Devil's temptation, eventually it will subside and the Devil will flee from us. If we seek God, we will find His presence in our lives and experience His blessings. Eventually this will become our habit, the habit of living rightly and walking with God instead of staying bonded to the flesh and the Devil.

So where to start? The Bible gives us the practical advices: "Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." It means stop doing what is wrong, and stop thinking what is evil. Instead, we seek God and practice His righteousness. While it is difficult at first and we will stumble from time to time, eventually the bond of the flesh and the worldly principles will get weakened, while our new habits will become stronger as we pray and exercise Godly living. God will forgive us from our stumbling, give us strength and work in our heart as well as our life to liberate us.