“Come close to God and he will come close to you.” 4:8a

There are a lot of stand-alone statements in this chapter, but I tried to zoom out and look at at the bigger concept. 

Closeness with God is what diminishes the individual sins listed. Self-motivated and letting jealousy drive you to get what you want? Come close to God. Struggling to live in this world but not be of this world? Draw near to Him. Jesus was the perfect example of how to live like that. 

Reading James can topple expectations high upon your head and weigh you down. But we are not called to any of this apart from God. 

“Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” 

The part of this chapter that stuck out to me the most is my failure to keep a godly perspective about my life here on earth. 

“Your life is like the morning fog-it’s here for a little while, then it’s gone.” 

How much of my time, energy and resources are spent on me? On my things. On my extreme comfort. On winning the world over? 

Lord, humble my heart and remind me that  this life belongs to you. 
-Carly