By Gevan Spinney
“Submit yourselves therefore 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.”
James 4:7-8…
Not long after I was saved in 1992, I was in church one Sunday morning and the music minister said, “turn to page 15.” I was sharing the hymnal with my momma and singing about raising my Ebenezer and I thought, “that is weird”, my mind had a picture of me holding Ebenezer Scrooge over my head. Then we sang the fourth verse and it was if I had written it. I mumbled, “Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be” that is me. Then I sang, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart Lord take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” As those words came off of my lips they began ring in my soul. On the outside I looked fine, my shirt was starched and ironed, I smelled of cologne, my hair was nice and neat, I smiled and said hello to those who greeted me. You couldn’t tell from the outside, but on the inside I was prone to wander.
For nearly 18 years the devil had control of my life. I filled my life with people and substances that I thought would satisfy me, but only left me feeling empty. Now that I was in Jesus the devil was relentless to drag me back into my old life.
If you, like me are prone to wander, then these verses remind us of the importance of constantly submitting to God’s authority in our life by spending time daily in his Word.
Draw near to him this morning and he will draw near to you.
Gevan Spinney is pastor of First Baptist Church in Haughton and a former president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. This editorial first appeared on his Facebook page.
