"Come near to God and he will come near to
you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
{James 4:8} (NIV1984)
What
a wonderful promise of God for His children! If we move toward Him, He moves toward
us. Our Lord repeats this promise in the letter to Laodicea, where He tells us,
“if we get up and open the door, He will come in and eat with us” (Rev. 3:20).
We wonder
how can I wash my sins away, and how can I purify my own heart? How did
you wash your hands this morning? I trust that you have washed your hands! You
went to the sink. You turned on the water, you applied soap to your hands and
you put your hands under the water and vigorously worked them together. Did you
make your hands clean? Not really; the soap and the water made your hands
clean, but you had to apply them, for them to do their work.
So it is that we go to our God for cleansing, through the Spirit (the Living Water) and
the blood of the Lord Jesus that cleanses all sin away. We must go to Him, we
must confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, we must thank Him for His blood
and for His Spirit- we must- we must. Do we forgive our own sins? NO! Do we
clean away the stains? NO! The Lord forgives, the Lord cleanses our hearts,
purifies us even, but we must go! Friend, may we set about the task of cleansing
our hands and our hearts vigorously, and may we do it often!
No comments:
Post a Comment