One Knee Bowed: Humbling Our Hearts

One Knee Bowed: Humbling Our Hearts

James 4.6-10

6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

The problem with the fallen angels is pride; the problem with man is selfishness. The solution to both is humbleness. Why is that? Humbleness has a way of tearing down our defenses. What I mean to say is that when we humble ourselves, our hearts are open and receptive to God’s call whereas we would otherwise not be so keen on listening. Humbleness is the key ingredient on resisting temptation, drawing closer to God, and purifying our hearts. James 4 provides us with an excellent examination of humbleness.

James recalls that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” It is obvious, therefore, that our relationship with Christ depends on the state of humbleness in our hearts. A proud heart that thinks oneself always correct will discover difficulty growing in Christ. The issue here is selfishness. Selfishness turns us towards earthly desires and, consequently, to Satan. Jesus said that “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6.24). We cannot dwell in Christ and likewise dwell in sin; it is as impossible as the man who wishes himself in both New York and Rome at the same time because he rather likes the experience of both.

James says that we are to “therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from [us]. Draw near to God and He will draw near to [us].” The effect of humbleness, then, is the changing of masters. When we “submit to God” we are able to “resist the devil.” Resisting the devil means that “he will flee from [us].” When we are free from Satan, Christ is able to work on our hearts. We can then “draw near to God and He will draw near to [us].” The transformation often occurs slowly, but the effects are obvious. You may find yourself saying and doing things you know quite well you wouldn’t have said or done were it a week ago. This is the divine work of the Holy Spirit. Humbleness is the key that unlocks the work of the Holy Spirit in sinful man. Humbleness is the restorer of communion and a relationship with God. When we are humble, our hearts are open to the work of the Holy Spirit. We are able to “cleanse [our] hands” and “purify [our] hearts.”

But humbleness requires all of us. One cannot bow one knee to God—he must fall on his face before Him. This is rarely an easy task. One can take confidence to the level of pride so that it is difficult to deviate from it. We may find ourselves resisting God and drawing near to the devil. This is a sign of pride. The solution is to put the other knee to the floor. Give all of yourself to God; not 1/7th of your time(Sundays) or 99% of your time. It is imperative that God have all of our hearts. When He does, He can shape the clay of our hearts into the image He wants it to be—the image of Jesus.

Is your heart humble today? Carefully examine it; do not merely assume it is. Are you holding back from the Holy Spirit because of pride? You may not recognize it at first as pride. Man can create all sorts of excuses as to why he is not being obedient to the will of God. The ultimate answer, however, is pride and selfishness. Sin holds us back from God. If you need to put away that sin and come and humble yourself before the Father, do so right this moment. We cannot afford to wait; God wants to operate on our hearts right now. Won’t you allow Him to do so today? Amen.

With love in Christ,



Austin Aldrich