4/14/2024 0 Comments Clean hands pure heartsPurity goes beyond just cleaning up our outward behavior (“cleanse your hands”) to the internal purification of heart, mind, and soul (“purify your hearts”). A pure heart is evidenced by openness, clarity, and an uncompromising desire to please the Lord in everything we think, say, and do. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts” (2 Timothy 2:21–22, NLT).Īnything that distracts us or has a contaminating influence on our lives will divide our loyalties and soil our hearts, rendering us ineffective kingdom servants. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. The apostle Paul explained that God looks for servants who commit their entire being to Him: “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. The greatest commandment, Jesus said, is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). The Lord desires His followers to be laser-focused in heart, mind, and purpose (Matthew 6:33). It suggests a single-mindedness of purpose that is free of distractions.ĭouble-minded people lack purity of heart. The term pure here indicates the absence of impurity, contamination, or filth. The Lord Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). The apostle John acknowledged that the true children of God who look forward to Christ’s return “purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). Earlier, James noted that double-minded people are “unstable in all they do” (James 1:8). A similar charge was issued against the people of Isaiah’s time: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). Their vacillating was dividing their loyalties. James branded the believers “double-minded” because they continued to live with one foot in the world while claiming to love and worship God. His language closely resembles that of the psalmist: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (Psalm 24:3–4). “Purify your hearts, you double-minded” was James’ clear and distinct call to inner purification-to recognize and confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. Believers who stray from the Lord must submit themselves to God and draw near to Him again through repentance. God desires His followers’ wholehearted loyalty and devotion (Exodus 34:14 Mark 12:29–31). Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8, ESV). James passionately told his readers to repent from their wicked ways and return to the Lord: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. However, if we get familiar with the word daily, God will help us stay longer on it by opening our eyes of our understanding and this will bring light into our hearts, the light that will eradicate darkness that overshadows our thoughts.Įngage in the word of God and you will see yourself transforming into a new being.An alarming epidemic of spiritual adultery and “friendship with the world” ran rampant in the early church (James 4:4). Sometimes, we know this secret but it also seems difficult to stay and study the word. It’s only when our hearts are pure that we can behold our maker, and it’s only when our hearts are free from hatred and jealousy that we can bear fruit. Doing as we have been commanded will not only give us success but will also help us change. Reading, studying, and meditating the word of God as we have been commanded by God will help us greatly in cleaning our hearts. The word of God (The Holy Bible) can wash the soul of a man and make it free from hatred, sorrow, and so on. Hatred, jealousy, hurt and so many other dangerous things hide in the heart, but how can the heart of man be clean and free from all these? Who can locate where the soul lies and clean it? Because once the soul of a man is cleansed, a new man will emerge. The heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it? So many things lie in the heart it is a well-hidden place, dangerous things can live in the heart without anybody knowing it, and that is why you can have bitter thoughts towards your fellow human being and he or she would not know. Another word for soul is also called “heart”. We humans can express our feelings to one another because we have souls. Feelings include happiness, sorrow, joy, hatred, anger, and so on. The soul is said to be the seat of reasoning where emotions and feelings also take place.
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