It's Your Move!

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you."  

 (James 4: 7, 8a, NIV)

One definition for submit is "to yield or surrender (oneself) to the will or authority of another."  What happens when we come upon a yield sign on the roadside?  Does it mean to speed ahead in order to get ahead of another car?  No, it means to slow down and give the other car the right-of-way.  And, if we don't do that, a collision could likely occur.  Someone could get hurt. 

In our own lives, we  must submit or yield our wills to God.  We must say, "God, here am I.  Not my will, but thy will be done."  If we don't, we're headed for disaster.  Someone is going to get hurt, and most likely, it will be us.  

We hear those who say, "I wish the devil would just leave me alone."  Do we always walk away from situations that we know we shouldn't be a part?  Do we fight the temptations when they come our way?  The devil is not going to leave us alone.  We must learn to fight and resist him.   

Then, there may be those who say, "I just don't feel close to God anymore.  It seems like He is far away."  God has not moved, so it must be we that have moved.  We often push God away when we're feeling guilty over things we're doing that are contrary to His will.  Or, when our lives become so busy, we stop praying or reading his Word like we used to.  That's when God seems to be far away. 

All of the things mentioned in the above verses call on us to do an action first :  submit, resist and come near.  Then, after we have done our part, God is faithful to do his.