Shutting the Door
“Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 KJV
Have you ever thought about the first thing you do when you get into your car? Turn on the ignition? Strap in the seatbelt? Put your iPhone on the seat next to you? How about dialing in your favorite radio station? Yes, those are definitely up there in priority, but before anything happens, you and I do something each and every time out of sheer habit. After we sit in the seat we close the door. Bet you didn’t think of that, did you? On a daily basis it’s not something any of us really contemplate. It just naturally happens.
This came to my attention the other day while picking up my 7 year old son from school. Now, if you live in Phoenix, Arizona in the summer time there is one thing you can’t get enough of and that is air conditioning. The heat here is stifling, like take-your-breath-away-I-want-the-rapture-to-happen-now hot. So when I was awaiting my son to be released from class I sat calm and collected, enjoying the icy cold air coming out in full blast on my face and body. There I was in my cocoon of coolness ,quietly chuckling at the helpless crossing guard melting away in the heat as she tried to corral rambunctious kids from the left and right. So sad, so, so sad, I thought. I am not called to that, Lord. My moment was quickly and rudely broken up as my son opened the door and a wave of unwelcome fire air entered my car. But then it went next level as Calvin, my uber social son, decided to say goodbye to every child in his class. These weren’t the normal goodbyes either, these are the kind that are littered with jokes and phrases that a father can’t understand, much less a frustrated and increasingly warm father can tolerate.
“Calvin, shut the door!!” I said, panicked.
SLAM!
“Hey dad, how was your day?” He smiled.
Innocently oblivious. What’s a dad to do? We proceeded to go get ice cream.
It’s interesting though, isn’t it, that none of us ever think about closing the car door? In fact I don’t think anyone of us was ever taught to do it but imagine what would happen if we didn’t! Doors are created for a purpose. To let things in and keep unwanted things out. Talk with someone who lives in Northeastern Ohio in January and they will tell you the value of a closed and sealed door. The act of shutting is unequivocally unintentional, yet ever so valuable. When James wrote his epistle to the Jewish Christians he understood that there was an unwanted thing (guest? trying to keep it consistent with phrase above) that would constantly want to work its (his? trying to keep it consistent with phrase above) way into daily life, relationships and decision making. Things are no different today. Unfortunately, that thing is the devil and he is very real is real, yet his power is limited unlike the God you and I serve. That is why we are encouraged to first submit to God and utilize his power to resist. Think of that word “resist” for a moment. It’s intentional. It’s determined. It’s aggressive. To resist something takes concentrated effort and action. A friend told me once that he daily makes a choice to resist the devil, to push against him. At the time I thought it was silly. I mean, why engage someone and awaken their anger? But I realized quickly that our adversary has been trying to work his way into lives from the very beginning. He does this with various tricks custom made to each individual. But think, what would the world be like had Adam and Eve aggressively resisted?
My challenge in all of this is us to daily open the door of our hearts in submission for God’s spirit to lead, and successively slam the door on the enemy and his deception. Yet the key in all of this is to make this submitting and resisting an intentional activity. Within in each of us resides the ample strength needed to resist temptation and sin. Power - it’s been given to us. The apostle Paul makes mention of this in 2 Corinthians 6:6-7 NLT.
“We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.”
It’s pretty clear in that short verse that Paul understood the concept of actively resisting. He understood that shutting the door on Satan and his schemes is vital to a person’s health. He most definitely came to realize that submitting and resisting go hand in hand.
Make today a day where you consciously keep out the unwelcome guest. Shut the door on the enemy’s advances. It’s hot out there.
