CLOSE TO GOD
“Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 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.” James 4:8-9 NLT
Here, James exhorts believers to take active steps toward God, drawing near to Him – with the promise that God will draw near to them in return.
In these verses, James is providing a directive statement to struggling Christians, speaking to the heart and mind. “Desire God and His ways, and He will never forsake you.” All who call on the name of the Lord are saved, as Romans 10:13 states. God is a gentleman and in His love, He has given His people a freewill to love Him in return – He doesn’t force people to seek Him. He invites people with a promise to always be available for them.
Honestly, you never have to ask the question, “Where are You God?” Because you are given this promise right here, “God will come close to you when you seek Him.” He is always present, as Jesus promises in Matthew 28:20.
The question, “Where are You God?” Is often asked by a struggling Christian who is wrestling with a specific circumstance – attributing the difficulty or severity to God’s lack of presence. Which is an inaccurate correlation, simply revealing a wrong expectation of God to always remove difficulty. God does remove difficulty, but there are times He is present with us through the difficulty, strengthening our faith.
God has promised to always be with us, so we do not have to question His presence. He absolutely invites questions, however, so a wiser question would be, “God why didn’t You stop this?” He doesn’t have to answer, but He might.
When the difficulty is an interpersonal issue, such as hate crimes, adultery, lying etc – and you’re suffering because someone is targeting you, breaking the 10 commandments. You can be assured that that situation is not ok with God even if it is taking place, especially if those targeting you claim to be Christians. Jeremiah 25:14 tells us that God will punish people in proportion to the suffering they caused His people. God has given the 10 commandments for a reason. He does not want these actions taking place. He however, does provide a freewill to obey Him or not to obey Him – and that is why sin is rampant in the world.
People defy God and His ways.
To the defiant, God speaks through James saying, “Wash your hands you sinners,” essentially saying – “Stop creating problems for others.” Proverbs 6:12-14 tells us that God calls those who deceive others, constantly lie, and cause problems for others worthless wicked people. So yes, God does label people, specifically those who cause problems for others. And He labels them as worthless wicked. Obviously not identifying them as His children, for we are told in 1 John 3:6 that anyone who keeps on sinning does not know God, nor do they understand who He is.
James continues to state, “purify your hearts, you doubleminded.” Indicating the doubleminded person, who is unstable, has one foot in the world and one in the church. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world. They enjoy the lure of the world’s ways and justify their sins because what they did pleased them. But they want salvation and heaven, also. They desire their will and their way. Some might be sadistic, with evil hearts, taking pleasure in creating and inflicting humiliation, bondage or psychological or physical suffering in lives. Others might be psychopaths, whose evil hearts lack a conscience and are cruel, manipulative, they take advantage of others or compulsively lie – and fail to care about the well-being of their target and experience no remorse over their actions.
To those in sin who have wandered away from God, He says in Zechariah 1:3-4, “Return to Me and I will return to you. Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and stop your evil practices.”
God speaking through James says, “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.”
Let there be godly sorrow for your actions, producing the fruit of repentance – found in a changed mindset and changed behavior revealing you’re a new creation with a clean heart.
May we have the heart of the psalmist who spoke of the benefits of a life close to God, especially during times of trial as he said in Psalm 73:26-28 NLT, “My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.” And then in Psalm 71:7, may we also state, “My life is an example to many because God is my strength and protection.”
Today, what steps will you take to be close to God?
Prayer: Abba, than You for Your promise to draw near to me, today. Open my eyes to Your will for my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
