That Dirty Little “S” Word

SCRIPTURE: Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. James 4:8 AMPC

THOUGHT: We don’t really like the “s” word, do we? To be called a sinner is tantamount to being shameful, a loser, accused of wrong and in need of justification (usually provided in spades by our own arguments).

I think we need to get over it. The pretense that humans can be perfect is for delusional utopians. We need to stop playing games in our own minds about the condition we find ourselves in, over and over, every hour of every day and just own it. Our hands are easily soiled with the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, we moment-to-moment waver between divided interests, and often seek satisfaction from lovers other than Jesus.

But notice here that James connects the promise of God coming close to us with our recognition that we are sinners. God doesn’t shun us because we are sinful, he shuns us because we are full of pride. In fact, just two verses before this James quotes Jesus, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble (Jm. 4:6; see Mt. 23:12 and Prov. 3:34).” So, did the humble suddenly become perfect? No, they suddenly became honest.

The promise of God’s drawing near is so huge – think about it for a moment. The God of the Universe, planner of planets, stars, moon, sun, animal and plant life…that God, wants to draw near to you and I. If we draw near to him, humbled by who he is and who we really are, he will come near – and we will be restored.

PRAYER: Thank you, God, that what you most want is something we can all give: not perfection, but honesty. Grant us favor as we humbly identify with the “s” word.