Title James 04:1 God's Call and Request
Contents
James 04:1 God's Call and Request
Have you been called by God?
If you have been called, how do you know that it is God's calling?
God's election and calling can be known by faith in the Son, Jesus Christ, and by being able to call God the Father 'Father'. This is because such a confession cannot be made except through God the Holy Spirit. See Romans 8:15-16. “You have received no more the spirit of bondage to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, so we cry, Abba, Father. The Holy Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. .” he said.
God's call cannot be rejected for any reason.
“How can a person like you come to church even after 10 years of being beaten by that much?” He wanted to comfort him with good words, but when he saw that he was complaining with bad words, he scolded him carefully. ‘Other than that, God used that method because you would not come to the church on your own. It happened to call you.' Only then did he say he repented.
Man can never escape from God. The prophet Jonah hid in the bottom of a boat going to Tarshish to escape God's call. God created the environment for him to come out on his own.
Why does God pressure those whom he has called to accept God's request so far? Can't we just leave the person who refuses and avoids it? See verse 5 of the text. He said, “The Spirit of God longs for me even to envy.” That's right. God is jealous and will not tolerate a person whom He has called His child to go to another idol.
- Isaiah 42:8, “I am the LORD, and this is my name. I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to an idol.” Exodus 34:14, “You shall not bow down to any other god. For the LORD is a jealous God whose name is Jealous.” Deuteronomy 4:24, “The LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
The text of this hour speaks about the attitudes required of those who have been called by God. And in the words, the two opposing minds of people are well expressed. The two are ‘obedience to God’s will’ and ‘satisfaction of one’s desires for the pleasures of the world’.
In the heart of every Christian there will be a constant battle like this. So God warns us through James. He says that the storms that arise in a person's heart, such as quarrels, fights, envy, and murder, are due to the desires of life, and the failure to understand God's will is because they are covered by a wall of desire. Therefore, he commands us to actively break down the barriers between us and God and respond appropriately to God's call.
1. A life that follows the fulfillment of desire is doomed.
Man's desire is like a violent storm in the sea. When a certain desire takes hold of a person, it gets caught up in an uncontrollable vortex and eventually devours everything. even life. Drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling, wealth, power, fame, etc. So, the result of excessive pursuit of worldliness is called ‘fight’ (war) and ‘quarrel’ (strife).
The pursuit of worldly desires creates a grudge that lasts as long as war. And the struggle for the gratification of desires releases a poison like hatred. Would you have said, 'If a woman has a grievance, frost will fall on New Moon'? The world today is sick with selfishness for the desires of these individuals or groups. God warns. See Galatians 5:15-16. “If you bite and eat each other, be careful not to destroy each other. I say to you, walk in the Spirit. Then you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
The desire that arises in man cannot be controlled or overcome by himself. Once you set foot in desire, the next time you go deeper and deeper, like drowning in the sand of the desert. If the eyes could impregnate women, all women on the street would be pregnant; if the eyes could kill, the streets would be full of corpses; if the eyes could steal, the shops would be empty, and things would move around all day It will be crowded. Almost everyone in the world will have some kind of desire. It's just hiding it. That is why Jesus extended the scope of sin to the breadth of the thoughts of the heart.
It is clear that worldly sorrow caused by desire leads to the death of soul and body. Then, we must overcome this desire, but we cannot overcome it by our own strength. The only way to overcome and control these desires is to rely on God.
2. The way to avoid ruin is to accept God's request.
In this text, we are asking us to completely oppose the worldly desires and submit to God. Let's look at verses 7-10.
What is the special request of us now? What is a request? It means “to be prepared to respond to God’s call”. How should I prepare? Let's look at Colossians 3:9-10. “You shall not lie to one another. Having put off the old man and his deeds, he has put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.” In other words, it is to change the worldly desire for endless pursuits into zeal for God.
“Alexander” went to India and met the philosopher “Diogenes”, who was lying by the river and enjoying the sun. For Alexander, it was very impressive. The serenity and silence that surrounded this naked man, and his beauty, dignifiedness, nobility, simplicity and naturalness, all captured Alexander. In a moment of intense jealousy, Alexander said to Diogenes.
"If I were to be reborn into the world, I would pray to God, 'Next time, let me be reborn as Diogenes and not Alexander.'" Then Diogenes laughed loudly and said,
“Where is the need to wait so long? Your Majesty could be Diogenes right now. Who is stopping your Majesty? You can sunbathe like me right now,” said Alexander, suddenly embarrassed.
"exactly. I want to do that too! But, after conquering the whole world, I will rest and enjoy like you.” After that, Diogenes said.
“I don’t understand. I can enjoy this without conquering the world, so why can't you enjoy it right now, Your Majesty? Why is your Majesty putting off what you can do right now? This riverbank is wide enough for several people to enjoy. Even if your Majesty were here, my seat would not be cramped in the slightest. This dam is wide enough, yet no one has come.”
Many Christians are of the same mind as Alexander. In other words, like Alexander, there is no opportunity now, so they are trying to put off the practice. In fact, they should be called “semi-Christians” rather than true Christians. It means 'a mediocre Christian'.
Diogenes' argument is similar to Jesus' invitation to mankind. Jesus invited mankind in Matthew 11:28-30. “You who labor and are heavy laden! come all to me I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Then your hearts will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The Lord has invited those who are struggling with the heavy burdens of life. However, you can find rest only by accepting the request from the Lord. But many “semi-Christians” fully understand the invitation, but feel that now is not the time. So we are putting off our obedience to God to the next opportunity. They think that their time is infinite.
God is not telling us to prepare ourselves for work sometime in the future. God says now is the best time to work. That is why he has called us and made us work in this age. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 6:1-2. “As co-workers with God, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. He said, ‘I heard you in my favor, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ Look! Now is the acceptable time, behold! Now is the day of salvation.”
We must draw near to God now, cleanse our hands now, sanctify our hearts now, and humbly obey now. Ladies and gentlemen, let's not put it off for tomorrow any longer, but when we have the time now, let's respond to God's call and accept the request in the life we have been given. Then you will be used as God's faithful instrument.
Now, let's change our desires for the things of the world into good zeal within the will of Hana Nam. So I pray in the name of the Lord that I can bear the fruit of a beautiful life before the opportunity passes.