Ten Commandments Part II - Come, Wash and Purify
- Lucy Allen
- Nov 7, 2023
- 2 min read
“Come near to God, and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8
In today’s passage we see the next three commands are to (1) come near or draw near to God, (2) wash, and (3) purify. How do we come near to God? In prayer, we draw nigh unto Him in desperately believing prayer, laying everything at His feet. God will not be unmoved, His welcome response always at the ready, and we find that He draws near to us. Perhaps we thought He would be far from us because of our sin and worldliness only to find that when we draw near to Him, He forgives and restores us. Drawing near is not so much a feeling, but an action of heart and hands.
We then are to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. Well, what exactly does this mean? If we consider that our hands represent our actions and our hearts our motives and desires, we cleanse and purify by confession and forsaking of sins – both inward and outward. The cleansing of our lives must involve both outward deeds and inner thoughts.
We mourn our sins, repent, and humble ourselves and let the Lord exalt us in His forgiveness. This also is what we do to resist the devil. Those who are covered in the righteousness of Christ, by faith in Him, have been given the right to draw close to Him – for He has promised to draw close to us. This can only happen when our hearts are purified before Him, our lives consecrated to Him, and we have separated ourselves from the world - with our conscience washed, our sins confessed, and our mind looking to Jesus, the Author, and Finisher of our faith.
The Message version puts it plainly: "Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet."
Whisper today’s prayer in closing:
Loving Father, I want to be in accord with You. Purify my heart and wash my hands clean before You so that I can draw closer and closer to Christ. Keep my ears open to Your voice, my eyes open to Your truth, and my heart open to You alone.
In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.
Another great devotion Lucy. I loved what you wrote at the end of the first paragraph. “Drawing near is not so much a feeling but an action of heart and hands.” Our feelings can be somewhat passive. We feel bad but really don’t go any further. True repentance is not passive but active. It is indeed a change of heart and redirecting of the hands towards good works. Great job!
Great job. Second paragraph grabbed my attention. Well stated.
Another great devotion, thank you, keep up this work. Next thing in line is Lord what is my next job for you? You have been prepared for what he has store for your next job or work and rejoice in it.
Amen