Focus 40: Day 31 - April 13, 2011

Coming Near

Come near to God and he will come near to you... -James 4:8 NIV

The Bible is full of paradoxes. James lays one out for us. In several different ways he demonstrates how the humble are exalted.

We don't usually view humility as an effective path of advancement. If you don't take credit for what you have done, someone else will. If you aren't tooting your own horn, no one will toot it for you. The path to success that we most often follow is the path of attention and achievement. It's a "look at me! I did it, and I did it well!"

It would be easy to apply that idea to this scripture. What does "coming near to God" look like? Do I have to get God's attention in order to know him? Is it a competition, whoever gets to God's front row first wins? If I make enough noise for God and do enough good in God's name will I get a favored place with him? While we may not voice these ideas we often act as if they are true.

James points us another direction.

God's favor is not earned, it is received. The focus of the Christian life is to seek God and God's will. The path to doing that is submission and obedience. Humility opens our hearts, minds, and lives up to God's work.

Drawing near to God is a process of removing sin and selfishness from our lives. It is a process of cleansing and focusing ourselves on the things of God. It is a clearing away of the junk of life we have accumulated with God's help.

Biblical thought demands a fourfold cleansing. It demands a cleansing of the lips (Isaiah 6:5, 6). It demands a cleansing of the hands (Psalm 24:4). It demands a cleansing of the heart (Psalm 73:13). It demands a cleansing of the mind (James 4:8). That is to say, the ethical demand of the Bible is that a person's words and deeds and emotions and thoughts should all be purified. Inwardly and outwardly a person must be clean, for only the pure in heart shall see God (Matthew 5:8).

Are you willing to clear away the junk of life? Are you willing to enter into the process of cleansing through humility and the work of God?

Spend some time in prayer today. Search out that which is unclean in you and give it over to God. Listen for God's response. In humility, do what you can to draw near to God. Look for God's working in your life. Celebrate as your relationship with God deepens.

Pastor John Mattern, First Church of God, Greensburg, Indiana.

1 The Letters of James and Peter, ed. William Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 2000, c1976), 107.