A Yielded Life

James 4:7-10 ⁷ So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Clean up your hearts, you who want to follow the sinful ways of the world and God at the same time. ⁹ Be sorry for your sins and cry because of them. Be sad and do not laugh. Let your joy be turned to sorrow. ¹⁰ Let yourself be brought low before the Lord. Then He will lift you up and help you.

One of the hardest things for us to bear is not having control over our own circumstances. But as Christians, this is exactly how we are called to live. Jesus made this very clear when He said we must deny ourselves and lose our life for His sake (²³ Then Jesus said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow Me, he must give up himself and his own desires. He must take up his cross everyday and follow Me. ²⁴ If anyone wants to keep his own life safe, he must lose it. If anyone gives up his life because of Me, he will save it. Luke 9:23-24). He is now our Lord and Master, and we no longer have the right to rule over ourselves. 

However, we have no cause for fear because God is an infinitely good, wise, and loving ruler. Furthermore, left to ourselves, we will make foolish mistakes and unwise decisions. That’s why we should delight in submitting to the Lord, trusting Him to control every aspect of our life. 

Yielding ourselves to the Lord is a two-part process. Submission to Him necessitates resisting the devil. And drawing near to God requires turning from sin, purifying our hearts, and cleansing our behavior. If any of these factors are lacking, then we haven’t truly submitted to the Lord as He desires but are trying to control certain aspects of our life. 

Instead of seeing submission as a loss, we must recognize it as eternal gain. If we humble ourselves before God, He promises to exalt us.