James 4:7-10 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.

I have always liked the first and last parts of this passage, but not the middle. However, I feel the Lord has given me insight this morning. As I have preached repeatedly, resisting the devil so that he flees is dependent on submitting to God first. However, it used to bother me that this passage seems to be very down on laughter, particularly so as I have known of some very dour Christians who used it as justification for squelching everything in sight. What the Lord just showed me is the context, and that is very similar to the situation in the US right now. The Bible is never against wholesome laughter, but this is talking about the laughter of people who are clearly not submitted to God. It doesn’t take five minutes of TV channel surfing to find that kind of laughter! Repentance is far more than emotions, but genuine repentance will certainly include emotions. What this passage is talking about is an echo of one I have heard appropriately quoted a great deal recently: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) America, perhaps more than any nation other than Israel, has been a nation that tried to be, and thought of itself as, the people of God. That degraded terribly in the second half of the 20th Century, and how the nation has the sort of government it’s been asking for. As a democracy (of sorts) there is the opportunity to change the government in an election this fall, but unless there is genuine repentance, the election will only change the faces, not the character, of the government. There are some encouraging signs that the real people of God are indeed waking up, but genuine repentance – which includes a change of lifestyle – is essential.

With the Pacific Ocean between us, things in the US are at something of a remove. However, with family and friends, including children and grandchildren, there, I am certainly involved. I must not think I have no repenting to do myself! I am sure that there are things in me that are not pleasing to my Lord, and I must be completely willing to get rid of them. That doesn’t mean that I’m to run around with a long face all the time. That certainly wouldn’t draw people to receive salvation in Christ! However, I am to be serious in my prayers, never flippant or casual, understanding fully that for my prayers to have the desired effect, I’ve got to be fully submitted to the Lord myself.

Father, thank You for this Word this morning. Help me put it into practice indeed, not just saying things need to change, but making changes. May I be Your agent in every detail, so that Your purposes may be accomplished on Your schedule through me for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!