Thursday, October 27, 2011

“Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” James 4:9

6-8.- “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep…”  The context of this verse helps us to understand that James is telling us to be sorrowful over our sin.  If sin brings forth death (1:5), it is only logical that sin should bring sorrow.  “Be afflicted, and mourn” speaks of what is going on inside, and “weep” speaks to a visible external sign of sorrow.

1.  “Let your laughter….to gloom”

God takes our sin very seriously.  It is no laughing matter.  There should be an understanding of the serious nature of sin.

What you and I need to understand today is what God’s perspective is on sin.  We tend to ignore, minimize, forget, or just feel guilty over our sin.  From God’s perspective sin is an attack on His character and person.  It goes against everything He is.  Think about it.  He takes sin so seriously that He sends His only, begotten Son to die because of it.  It speaks to His holiness and righteousness that such a serious solution had to be undertaken.

So when  James says to “be afflicted, mourn and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness” he is saying something about the seriousness, darkness and sadness of our sin.  He is trying to give us God’s perspective.  Our sin sent Jesus to the cross.  Although that is good news for us, certainly it should cause us to be sorrowful over our sin.

Application:

What is your attitude towards your sin?  Is it “no big deal”, or is it something you are taking seriously?