Escape
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. – James 4:7-10.
Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. – Hebrews 2:17-18.
In Australia an eight-year-old (at the time) girl barely escaped from the jaws of an eight foot crocodile after her little brother distracted it. Paul, who was five-years-old, grabbed the beast’s tail which gave Martina the time to get her feet out of its mouth. Their father then killed the crocodile with an axe. The family had been hunting for turtles in a creek in Australia’s Northern Territory when the reptile suddenly attacked.
There is a spiritual beast who is just as dangerous which loves to tear down, destroy, hurt, kill, and steal everything that is good in our lives (John 10:10a). What do you do when the beast has you in its jaws and is carrying you off? What do you do when it seems you are going under for the last time? What do you do when everything seems to be going wrong and nothing seems to work? Martina’s little brother had the right idea. Most likely it is time for a distraction. Something is needed to take the beast’s mind off of you.
James says that we should submit ourselves to God. As humbly and best that we know how we should come before God in the Name of Jesus asking for His help. We are told what will happen in Hebrews 2:18 which says, “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” The word aid has been translated as help, succor, or a more literal translation is “run to the cry.” Now that will get that old beast’s attention when the Lord comes running to help!
Then James says we are to resist the devil. How did Jesus resist the devil in Matthew 4? He resisted the devil with the Word of God. We need to saturate our lives with the Word of God. We need to read it, memorize it, recite it, meditate on it, listen to it, and then we need to use it to defeat the enemy. It will then become the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). James says what will happen is that the devil will flee from us. Give that old devil a distraction and you too can escape from the jaws of the beast!
(How do you escape from sin, temptation, and the tricks of the devil?)