Adulterous



James 4:4-6
4You adulterous people! 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.
5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

One of the rarely examined but very interesting aspects of the Bible is that is regularly tells us how God feels although we probably don’t spend much time thinking about that part of His existence. There are many words used to describe God’s emotional state; loving, merciful, angry, jealous, grieved, pleased . . . These are just a few examples of how God feels. James taps into God’s emotional response to us as His lovely Bride.

Because we are so easily distracted by the evil ways of the world, James rightly calls us “adulterous.” That’s a harsh word, isn’t it? If you are familiar with the book of Hosea, you will recognize the image. Hosea is an Old Testament prophet who was commanded by God to live out the reality of God’s relationship with His people. Hosea was commanded by God to marry Gomer – a prostitute. While he took her into his home and treated her with the love and dignity of a wife, she continued to live the life of a prostitute, regularly running away from her husband to have sex with other men for money and gifts. Those things that Hosea lavished upon her as his wife were credited to her other lovers. Hosea and Gomer served as a living, breathing example of the relationship that God has with His people. Just as the Children of Israel ran after other Gods in the Old Testament, so we too run after the ways of the world, leaving our loving and generous God behind. This activity on our part makes God jealous. He wants to be the only recipient of our love and devotion. And finally there is the ultimate truth – God still gives us grace. He embraces our humility (our recognition of our need for Him) and pours Himself out upon us.

There are so many times per day that I find myself pursuing worldly things rather than God and that can be frightening. But He is always the faithful Husband, awaiting my recognition of my need for the Savior. He is ever there offering grace and acceptance.

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