All Fall Down

Humility and brokenness are interesting things.

You can bow willingly under the mighty hand of God in this life in preparation for the next. This is the scriptural prerequisite for living a blessed and full life.

Or, you can be broken by sin and disobedience, get slammed by the judgment of a holy God and this fallen world. Ouch.

One way or another, we will all fall down.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 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. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

- James 4:1-10

Adulterous people...Is that really too harsh for us?

Not when you consider that marital infidelity and adultery is running rampant in the church. I just heard of another pastor that has been carrying on...wink, wink -- nudge, nudge. Lovely wife and family and still he felt the need to "fool around." But the cat's been let out of the bag and the weeping and sorrow is filtering through our community. If it was just his family that's been defiled -- that's bad enough. But it's an entire church congregation. That trusted him. Trusted he was rightly dividing the Word, rather than dividing his affections.

Don't worry... I am well aware of my own propensity to drift and wander. God help me to stay the course, to honor my wife and family, to be committed to my vows, even if I'm the only one who has the nerve to hold on.

(BTW, I know I'm not the ONLY one. But we are beginning to look more like a remnant than a strong army of warriors.)

And it's not just adultery that we're facing. It's idolatry, gluttony, lukewarmness, pride, lust, greed, etc. All are traps. All are possibilities. All are sin.

We will all fall down. Choose you this day when your humbling will occur. Do it today!

Selah.