You Have To Choose James 4:2-4 by Dr. Paul Chappell

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We Have to Choose!
by Dr. Paul Chappell

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

James 4:2-4

There is an old story about a man who couldn't decide which side to fight for in the Civil War. So he put on a blue Union army jacket and gray Confederate army pants. He thought that by doing so he would be accepted by both sides, but instead he found that both sides were shooting at him. Absurd as that story is, it illustrates an important spiritual truth: we can't be on both sides of the spiritual battle. If we want to cling to the things of the world, that places us at enmity with God. He deserves our complete allegiance. If we give Him anything less, we are essentially siding with the world.

The desire to be accepted by the world and receive the praise of men has led many people to lower their commitment to God and the truth, and begin accepting things they should always resist. There is no stopping place once a person starts down that path. There will always be one more thing to give up in order to continue to be considered acceptable. Jesus warned of this danger when He said, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).

Rather than seeking the approval of the world, we should make our allegiance to God firm and unyielding, no matter what happens. John Wesley wrote, “Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.”

Today's Growth Principle:
A person trying to fit in with both God in the world will end up pleasing neither.