Today's scripture verse is from James 4:7-10 (NRSVCE)
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."
It seems to me that the journey to holiness is filled with contradiction. On the one hand, we are to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12), and on the other "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).
Here in the book of James, there are some practical advice:
1. Submit to God
The biblical idea of submission is quite different from what our culture teaches us. Most of us think of submission as submitting under the authority or power of someone else and is usually deemed mandatory or obligatory, e.g. obeying the speed limit or filing income tax. If we fail to do so, we can do ourselves harm either criminally, in a civil lawsuit, or financially.
But submission to God as James writes in 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." suggests something different. The way James writes this is that our being able to resist the devil is conditioned on whether we are submitting ourselves to God…only then will “he flee from you”. But if you’re not submitting to God, you might not be able to resist the devil because you can’t expect God’s help in resisting temptation from the devil while you’re refusing to submit to Him. There is no guarantee that he will flee from you at all under this circumstance. (Patheos).
Resistance is possible only because the power of God within us is greater than the power of the Evil One present in the world (1 John 4:4). Also see Ephesians 6:11-17 and 1 Peter 5:8-9) - from Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (ICSBNT) p.444
2. Draw near to God
Submission is only possible by the grace and power supplied by Jesus Christ after we have been incorporated into His body, the church. It is "A call to return to the covenant and reestablish friendship with God (Zech 1:3; Mal 3:7)" - from ICSBNT p.444
The best way to do this practically is to spend time in prayer and meditation. I am doing Liturgy Of The Hours - at least the Morning Prayer. I get a daily email reminder through the Morning Offering.
3. Cleanse your hands... purify your hearts
James speaks of moral purity, exhorting us to wash ourselves of evil deeds and intentions. Purification is demanded of everyone who approaches the all-holy God (Ps 24:4-5; Is 1:15-15). ICSBNT p.444
There is no better way to do this than to go to Confession at least once or twice a month. I am trying to practice the Examination of Conscience every evening before going to bed. "Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)
4. Mourn and Weep
A call to shed tears of repentance. Catholic tradition refers to this as "compunction" of heart. The practice of confession is so helpful to do this. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Mt 5:4). Oh there is so much comfort to be had from the Lord!
5. Humble yourselves...exalt you
Jesus reminded us that "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." (Mt 23:12) and St Peter also exhorted us to "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time." (1 Peter 5:6)
Practically I am learning that “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” ― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?! It's been so helpful that every time I drifted into either moments of extremely pride or self-pitying, the best way was to simply switch off whatever I was thinking and turned my thoughts to praise and worship to God.
"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8)
