"No grey areas"
You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. (James 4:4 NLT)
We have this dichotomy in our minds that we can have worldly lifestyles & still be close to God. We think we can be close to God & hold onto our sin. We think we can love God & our sin simultaneously. But James 4:4 shows us that this is not only incorrect but also impossible. We cannot love God & the world. Jesus said it this way, "We cannot serve two masters. Either we will love one & hate the other or we will be devoted to one & shun the other."
Think about the reference to adultery here. Guys, how many of you could bring another woman home tonight & tell your wife you are ready to expand the family by adding a new wife? Most of us would not make it through the night. It would be adultery. When we chose our wives, we were in the same manner rejecting all other women. All women everywhere. It's the same with God. We can't cling to him & cling to another as well.
Our hearts cannot love two masters. We are either loving God or this world but it can't be both. If we think we can do both, we deceive ourselves & we cannot see the truth.
To love the world is to stuff arm God & to love God is to stiff arm the world. So, if we presume that although we love our sin & want to continue in it, that we can be close to God, we are deceived & the Bible calls us adulteresses.
There are no grey areas with God in this. It's plain. We are either shunning God & loving the world or loving God & shunning the world. Often times we can do both in one day but we can't do both at once.
Friendship with the world is spiritual adultery. When we allow this world to shape us into its mold, we shun God & cannot walk close with him.
Where have we found ourselves trying to do both? Where have we been deceived? Let's ask God to open our eyes to see where we love the world & ask him to replace it with love for him.
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