Are You an Enemy of God?

James 4:1-4 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? (2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. (3) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. (4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

If we took a poll today asking the question:  “Are you an Enemy of God”, what do you think the results would be?  I feel confident that 90% + would say...”No way!”.  In fact, I think that a good number of those people would be insulted by the insinuation.

That question is really based upon one’s on definition of the word “Enemy”.  We typically think that an enemy is one that has their sights set on the destruction of the opposing side or person.  If we have an enemy in a war, we seek to kill and destroy them, before they kill us.  If we have personal enemies, we may not seek their death, but we might seek their demise in other forms.

When we think of God as being an enemy, we think of those that would seek to ACTIVELY work against God’s interests.  Those like atheists or Satanists.   Those that are angry with him for what ever reason and would shake their fist at God and say:  “I hate you”.  But that is NOT the image that James portrays for us.  Unfortunately, the picture that James paints for us SEEMS much more innocuous, but is equally as dangerous!

James says that those that are enemies of God are simply friends with the world.  Don’t draw the wrong conclusion and think that the “world” here only represents sin.  The concept of the “world” certainly includes sin, but it also includes things that are inherently harmless too.  

The concept that James is trying to get across stems from his use of the term “Friends” with the world.  That term denotes a level of loyalty, time spent, attention and even a level of fondness. If then, we have a devotion, affection and attention given to the world, that is loyalty NOT given to God himself.  The Bible clearly states that we cannot give God leftovers of anything.  Therefore, he is our first and most important or we are his enemy!

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 

God gave us this best when he gave us his son to die.  Therefore, he deserves to be the first and highest priority in our lives.  We must always be careful not to get so caught up in the things of this world that we become friends with it and we begin pulling away from God.  It is a choice that we must make,  We must make God the highest priority in our lives or we are enemies with him.