James 4:5 Or 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”?
The Old Testament states that God is jealous and wants exclusive worship and love (Exodus 20:5). There cannot be any compromise at this critical point. We have to choose whom we will follow (Joshua 24:15). This is the most fundamental choice of life. The devil uses the world to blind us to God and entice us away from God by false promises. This is exactly what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Nothing has changed in the temptation or the consequences. God has put in the human heart the desire for fellowship and understanding of something greater. We can channel this toward God and the things of God (such as the Bible), or we can fulfill this desire with the false promises of the world and its many desires and temptations. Both choices will have consequences. We can go the way of life or the way of death. Sadly, we are often enticed by our passions and wander from the path. The good news (“gospel”) is that God is gracious, loving, and forgiving. James will continue with this theme in the following verses. This verse challenges us to look within ourselves, to check our motives, to see where our devotion is placed.
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