James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Ballroom dancing is beautiful thing to watch when it is done well. Two people, interlocked in a rhythmic motion, timed to music. But it is much more than that. When it is done well, every movement of each person is carefully choreographed. Slight head movements, the position of the fingers on the hand, the elbows raised just so, the slowed and exaggerated reversing of direction. All these elements work to gather to make something more.
But it takes two people to do this dance. Each must respond to the other, one leading and the other responding, and the response gets calculated in the next movement. Push and pull, nudge and finesse. Bend and stiffen.
And every dance is a little different from the others. A waltz is nothing like a fox-trot. The feeling of each is very different from one another. It is different to watch and it is different to dance.
Our walk with the LORD can be very different at different times and in different seasons of life. There are moments when we draw in close to the LORD and to each other because to not do this would leave us on our own, alone. And alone in those moments would be unbearable.
There are also times when our grip is a little less intense. There is more room between us, more room to maneuver through the path ahead. We are still connected, still in the dance together, but the LORD allows the space growth, expression, freedom. We are not free from Him, but free to grow and blossom.
We have a choice in those moments when we feel alone. Our text tells us that we should come near to God. We must take some initiative in those moments. We move toward Him. Our actual actions change in response to knowing He is near and the condition of our hearts.
And when we move in closer to Him, He responds. He will pull in closer to us. Imagine that, the God of the Universe responding to our inclinations! He comes near to us!
But this can be a scary proposition. This is the Holy God we are talking about. He knows all. Sin can’t hide in His presence.
So that is why the writer commands us to wash and purify to get ready for the upcoming meeting. Both inside and outside must be cleaned. Our hands, the part that interacts with the world, must be cleansed from the pollutions that the the world brings. We must wash ourselves of the ways of the world, the ways that betray our confession of Jesus.
Our outward actions must line up with our confession. There should be no variation, no divergent messages between action and confession. They need to be unified.
But even if we get our actions coherently moving in the direction of holiness, our hearts can still be double-minded. We need unity of mid as well. We must win the battle that no one else sees, except the LORD. This inner battle is just a important at the outward one.
We must humble ourselves before Him in this process. We will fall short. We will be in need of His grace and mercy to a far greater degree than we can imagine. So acknowledge this. Embrace it. Draw close to Him. Wash and clean what the Holy Spirit enlightens in our hearts and Spirit. When He speaks, respond.
The Arnold Journey 