Verse of the Day 6/9

Verse of the Day 6/9

James 4:8  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  English Standard Version (ESV)

For today's verse we'll return to James chapter 4.  Yesterday we considered how we are to resist the temptation to sin, to feed those "stray cats", as it were, that are just hanging around  looking to be fed.  This verse starts by telling us to draw near to God and ends with the reminder of our natural tendency, to be double minded.  Drawing near requires focus, a singular  focus on God's purpose for us  in what  we do, all  that we do.

This does not happen randomly, it requires focus.  John Piper writes, "This verse means that there is a precious experience of peace and assurance and harmony and intimacy that is not unconditional. It depends on our not grieving the Spirit....... It depends on our putting away bad habits. It depends on forsaking the petty inconsistencies of our Christian lives. It depends on our walking closely with God and aiming at the highest degree of holiness"

Feeding those stray cats takes away from our focus on God and a closer relationship to Him.  Purifying our hearts involves weeding  out the other things  that can draw us away from  Him, from spending  time with Him, walking with Him.

That purifying process involves a desire to be holy, righteous, which is to be in right standing before God. Pastor Greg Laurie gives us another perspective on that when he writes, "What does it mean to be holy? Maybe if we respelled holy as wholly, as in wholly committed, we would get a better understanding of the word. You can be wholly committed to surfing or wholly committed to golfing or wholly committed to money. That is a commitment.  If you want to be holy, be wholly committed to God. You will be happy as a result. "

The thoughts of being wholly committed brought me to the old hymn  "I Surrender All".  It is a true picture of drawing near.  May it be the condition of our hearts. 

All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live
All to Jesus I surrender
Humbly at His feet I bow
Worldy pleasures all forshaken
Take me, Jesus, take me now,

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to Thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all
All to Jesus I surrender
Make me Savior wholly thine
May Thy Holy Spirit fill me
May I know Thy power divine

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

James 4:6-10New Living Translation (NLT)

⁶ And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,

"God opposes the proud
    but gives grace to the humble."^[a]

⁷ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ⁹ Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.