Submit to God
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Simply put, this verse means, Say, “Yes” to God and, “No” to the devil. It is useless to try to resist the devil without first submitting to God. The devil is too strong and his wiles too subtle for any of us. Victory begins with surrender to God. But on the other hand, we are to follow submission to God with resisting the devil. “The battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47), but we are not robots or machines; we must be on God’s side and say “No” to the enemy. We fight with spiritual weapons, but we still fight, and there is not only passive submission but active submission.
Some make the mistake of mere submission without a positive stand against the tempter. Others resist without submission, and the devil does not flee. It is a double-barreled admonition. It is a clear call to “Yes” and “No.”
“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Matthew 5:37).
