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Draw Near Unto God
Draw Near Unto God
In James 4, after warning us about friendship with world and worldly lusts, James rattles off a series of instructions concerning how to live a godly life (vs. 7-10).
· Submit unto God –
· Resist the Devil
· Draw near unto God
· Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts
· Mourn over spiritual condition that requires such cleansing and purifying.
· Humble yourself.
Such must become our daily activities, a manner of life, our constant attitude. In verse 8, James tells us to “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”.
This phrase appears in the Old Covenant in connection with the worship of God. (cp. Lev. 9:2; 21:18; Num. 16:40). We learn from the Old Testament that acceptable worship MUST be preceded by the pursuit of godliness in one’s life.
Isaiah 29:13-14 13 Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, 14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed."
Isaiah 55:6-7 6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Thus, James instructs us that in our drawing near to God, we too must first cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. Hence: the Hebrew writer states: “22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).
Hugh DeLong
