James 4:8
Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
The Lord has always made the first move showing us how much He loves us. He is the One who chose us and called us by our name. What then happened that James had to say, ‘Come near to God.’ Did we drift away? Isn’t that what often happens to us? Yet, our loving Father calls us to draw near unto Him.
How do we do this? Not by our regular visits to the Church every Sunday, but by an everyday practice of meditating on His promises, studying His Word, worshipping and praising Him and doing what He has called us to do-loving Him and loving our neighbours. May we not be like the people spoken in Isaiah where the Lord says, ‘these people draw near me with their words and honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.’ Rather, let us heed to David’s advice where he told Solomon to ‘know’ the God of his father, and serve Him with all his heart and a humble mind.
In washing our hands, we acknowledge that we are sinners and are soiled, needing the cleansing of the precious Holy Spirit. By not giving the Lord the priority in our lives, we have been disloyal to Him through our divided interests and desperately need Him to purify our hearts.
So today, let us come before our Lord in all humility asking for forgiveness that our hearts wandered away. Let us receive the mercy that flows from His throne, washing us in spirit and in soul. Let us recommit our lives to our Lord Jesus Christ receiving His Spirit to abound in us. May our attitudes, motives and actions glorify our Father in Heaven, through Christ our Lord, Amen!
