Wisdom that Penetrates the Heart
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.
When you think about it, the heart is where we live. It’s the seat, the centre, of our emotions.
Of course, the heart is a physical organ vital to life. That’s why we use it as a metaphor for the centre of who we are. Everything flows out of our metaphorical heart. If the heart is diseased, our lives are diseased. If the heart is healthy, our lives are healthy.
If our heart is filled with evil intentions, then our lives will live out that evil. That’s why Jesus said that murder begins in the heart. Out of the overflow the heart speaks. What happens in our hearts first, is later acted out in our lives. Our hearts, and our hands are connected.
As I look back on my life there have been times when my heart has been completely closed to the things of God; the wisdom of God. And the only way that I’ve discovered to deal with that is to draw near to God.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)
You and I can work and work and work at improving ourselves, but have you noticed, it just doesn’t work, no matter how hard you work at it.
So, when you feel as though God is a million miles away (He isn’t of course, it just feels that way) then it’s time to tackle a step towards Him. It’s time to set a bit of time aside each day to pray. It’s time to open His Word and read it, reflect on it, receive it.
It’s not easy at first. It’s like a young infant taking her first faltering steps towards her dad. But, just think of what that does in the Father’s heart. When we take a few, faltering, unsteady steps towards Him, He takes some mighty, God-sized steps towards us.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
That’s His promise to you today, in case you’re feeling as though He’s a million miles away. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. And in that place, He will purify your heart, He will cleanse your hands, He will remove the double-mindedness and doubt from you in a way that you could never do for yourself.
What’s the matter with us that we think we have to clean up our act before we go to God? Sure our hearts might be filthy dirty, diseased, hard as stone. Sure our hands might be covered in filth as well.
It’s for sinners like you and me that Jesus died.
What you and I need is wisdom that penetrates the heart. And that’s exactly what Jesus has ready and waiting for you.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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