James 3:13-4:8a, 9:18-24, Year B:

I am sending in some of my lectionary notes a bit early again because Lydia and I will be away for a few days.  Maybe this will give some of you a chance to catch up on reading some of my blog entries; but there will probably be a few more before we leave.

 

This passage in James reminds us of the importance of sincerity and a good Christian spirit in our dealings with others.  We are to be wary of envying, bitterness, and strife.  James reminds us that often we have not because we ask not, or we ask amiss--selfishly, in a spirit of greed.

 

A well-known minister tells of an incident that occurred when he was a student minister in Florida. His apartment was near several orange trees.  In fact, the trees were right out in his yard.  One day, a little boy sneaked into the yard and made off with his arms full of oranges from these trees.  The minister said that the irony of the situation was that those weren't even particularly good oranges.  However, one of his church members had given him a whole basket of some of the best oranges Florida could produce.  The young minister had more oranges than he could ever hope to use.  If the little boy had only asked him, the student minister would have gladly given him all the oranges he could carry home--and they would have been some of the very best.

 

That's a lot like us.  We scheme and plan and work out all sorts of strategies to get what we want.  Sometimes, we are even guilty of rather serious sins and presumptions in order to reach some particular goal or acquire some particular desire.  Yet, we fail to do the one thing that would be so much more pleasing to God.  We fail to ask our heavenly Father.  And even when we do ask Him, we ask amiss--selfishly, without submitting fully to His will or desiring His glory.

 

Our passage closes with the call to draw near to God, and the promise that He will draw near to us.  And if we resist the devil, he will flee from us.  How often do we consciously draw near to God?  How determined are we truly to resist the devil?  If we would but do these things, we would find that God is true to His Word.  He will be faithful, even when we are faithless.  He knows how much we need for Him to draw near to us, even when we do not realize our need to draw near to Him.  We are to draw near to God because He seeks our fellowship and deserves our unconditional worship and reverence.