Read James 4:8-9
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. (James 4:8-9)
As we read “come near to God” we might be tempted to think that God’s presence with us is dependent on ourselves and that we govern the situation as to whether or not God is near to us. If this is true then we become the boss!
In His love God has made a wonderful promise on which we can always rely: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we may say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5b-6). Also, when Jesus commissioned His disciples, He told them “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b).
God always takes the initiative and He is always with us and near us. (In another sense He is always in us through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit). It is when we are consciously seeking God throughout the day that we become conscious that He is near to us.
When we approach a mountain, the nearer we get to it, the larger it appears to be and the smaller we become in comparison to the height of the mountain. And so, the closer we are to God in our Christian walk, the more conscious we should become of our weakness and failures. (Often in charismatic services we sing God’s praises but forget to confess our shortcomings!)
James gives us a sober reminder that there may be times when individually, as a family or as a local church or Christian organization, we need to “wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” (v. 8b-9). When we do this in genuine repentance, we can be sure that God will come near to us.
O Lord, we want to be near You throughout this day.
This meditation is extracted from “Transformation from Belief to Behaviour: 39 Lenten Meditations on the Letter of James” by Peter Young and used with permission by the author. It may be used solely for personal, noncommercial, and informational purposes. Republication or redistribution of this devotional is prohibited.
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