drawing close

James 4 

7 So humble yourselves before God. 

Resist the devil, 

and he will flee from you. 

8 Come close to God, 

and God will come close to you. 

Wash your hands, you sinners; 

purify your hearts, 

for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 

9 Let there be tears for what you have done. 

Let there be sorrow and deep grief. 

Let there be sadness instead of laughter, 

and gloom instead of joy. 

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, 

and he will lift you up in honor.

11 Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. 

If you criticize and judge each other, 

then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. 

But your job is to obey the law, 

not to judge whether it applies to you. 

12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. 

He alone has the power to save or to destroy. 

So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?

13 Look here, you who say, 

“Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. 

We will do business there and make a profit.” 

14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? 

Your life is like the morning fog; 

it’s here a little while, 

then it’s gone. 

15 What you ought to say is, 

“If the Lord wants us to, 

we will live and do this or that.” 

16 Otherwise 

you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, 

and all such boasting is evil.

17 Remember, 

it is sin to know what you ought to do 

and then not do it.