James is writing a letter to his fellow Christians in the 1st Century. But he opens Chapter 4 with a tough question: Why are you fighting with each other? Where is all this animosity coming from?
We wouldn’t think he would be talking to followers of Jesus but he is. He says we have evil desires wreaking havoc on our lives.
The first evil desire he describes is coveting. In vs 2 he says we want things we don’t have. Instead of asking God we scheme to get those things ourselves, by any means necessary. That coveting then turns to jealousy as we see other people with things we don’t have.
James says rather than operating out of sinful envy we should simply ask God for things. But there’s still a problem because we ask for things to please ourselves and not to please God. James says God is under no obligation to answer those selfish types of prayers.
James wrote this over 2000 years ago but he’s right on the money today. We still face this problem as Christians. So what’s the solution? James said we need to love God and not things. Love God and not the world. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 6:33:
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and He’ll give us everything we really need.
As we go into 2025 that would be a great New Year’s Resolution—to love God and not the world.
