Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

This scripture tells us that it is essential to submit ourselves to God in order to resist the devil so that he will flee from us. If we want to reign in life, we must submit ourselves to God: that is to say, we must obey him.

The spiritual authority necessary for us to reign in life comes from God. Just as water runs from a high place to a low place, this authority runs from the Most High to those who are lower than him and submit themselves to him. The lower ones may still ask and beseech the highest one, but they do not command him, nor does he obey them. Yet, Christ, being equal with God, took the very nature of a servant, and submitted himself to his own earthly parents. He joined the procession of sinners and was baptized by John the Baptist. He even humbled himself under the authority of the Sanhedrin and that of Pilate, and was obedient to death on a cross. This is amazing! It was something completely unusual that should not have happened in terms of God’s authority. But God made it happen for us. Then, how much more must we, following in Jesus’ footsteps, submit ourselves to God!

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (1 Pet 5:6).

In order to reign, you must be high and strong in authority. That is opposite of being humble, which means to make low. Think about it. The above scripture says, when you make yourself low before God, he will make you higher so that you can reign in life. This is so important. So many of us try to make ourselves high, and when we do that, God makes us low. If we are low in God’s authority, we fail to reign in life. But when we make ourselves low before God, he lifts us up and makes us high so that we may reign in life.

The Bible is different from human books in that it contains so many commands. These commands, obviously, come from God, and are given to humans. He does not beg and ask us saying, “Could you please do … ?” Some of us are not used to God’s way of commanding because we try to be polite to each other when asking others to do something in this world. Of course, the Bible teaches us to be polite respecting each other’s will. But God is the creator of heaven and earth and all the creatures in them including us. He can command us differently, and we need to get used to his way of commanding.

Here are some examples of his commanding. In Luke 5, we see that one day Jesus was by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Peter, and asked him to put out a little from shore. When he finished speaking to the crowd, he said to Simon:

Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. (Luke 5:4).

As you know, Peter just fished all night but got no fish. Imagine that you were Peter. This son of a carpenter, not a fisherman, from Nazareth (there is no lake there), commands you to go into deep water again and do some more fishing. On top of that, when everything was done accordingly, Jesus said to him:

Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men (v. 10).

Wait a minute! Who is this man to tell me whom I am going to be, and what I am going to do?