TWO WORDS

James 4:7-10
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

In the annals of advertising history, perhaps the most efficient slogan of all time is California milk producers' seven-letter, two-word question, "Got Milk?"

With those two words and the accompanying ad campaign, the group spawned an entire grocery list of knock-offs. "Got [fill in the blank]?" has become an institution. In surveys, the "Got Milk?" slogan was recognized by more than 90 percent of the people polled.

So, if "Got Milk?" is so good at reminding people to drink moo juice, perhaps we can come up with some two-word slogans to help us live more godly lives.

Let's try it by turning to James 4:7-10. That passage gives us four specific guidelines for living in a way that pleases God. If we were writing an ad campaign for each, we might come up with the following:

Give In! Verse 7 tells us to submit to God. It's not easy, but it's vital that we do. He's sovereign and He loves us, so why not let Him run the show.

Get Close! Verse 8 reminds us of the value of drawing near to God. He's there, and we need to reach out to Him. The gap between us and God will mirror the gap between us and true joy.

Clean Up! Verse 8 also reminds us to make sure our hearts are clean. The cleansing occurs when we confess our sins to God.

Get Down! James is pretty clear in saying that we need to be humble before God, and that includes viewing our sin as something to weep over (v.9). That leads to true humility in God's presence (v.10).

Give In! Get Close! Clean Up! Get Down!

Those pairs of words may not look as good on a T-shirt as Got Milk. But they sure will look better on you. --Dave Branon

DESTINATION POINTS

* When is it hard for me to submit to God? Are there any specific commands from Scripture that seem too hard? * What things can I do to get closer to God? Have I done them today?
* As I look at my life, do I see anything I need to clean up?

LINKS
Got Milk?

bottom line: Got godliness?

soul journey