Caught in the Worlds Trap

 

James 4:4

When is the last time someone has addressed you in this way? “You adulterous people!  It is not your normal greeting, and James has just stated that we let our passions guide what we ask God, our Father for, and now he is calling us adulterers.  In fact, he is not through; “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  I am willing to bet the farm, that most Christians do not see themselves as adulterous people, and most would be quick to state that they are not an enemy of God. 

When I compare myself to others who go by the name of Christian, often I have a false sense of I’m on the right tract, I’m looking good, I’m in the race, but then I put my eyes on Jesus, and come to a full understanding of what James is accusing me of, often my actions are not in keeping with Jesus’ commands.  John 14:15, reports these words of Jesus; “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  And Jesus said in John 15:9-10, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

I often refer to my putting my eyes on anyone other than Christ as “putting my latter on the wrong wall.”  Doctor Luke warns us in Luke 21:34, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”  Many of us overindulge in the pursuit of pleasure and have issues with anger or anxiety, and some are controlled by addictive habits; we have been caught in the worlds trap.   As we read the words of Christ, it becomes clear that we do not abide in His love, we have pursued a life of independence, and God the Father has called us to a life of dependence on Him and His Word.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice