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

This is an invitation. It’s an invitation to life, abundant, free, and eternal. Why do so many people seem to pass up this invitation? Is it that they simply do not know about it or perhaps they just decide to do things their own way instead? Whatever the case, the invitation goes out to anyone who will hear and respond.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” This is the invitation for us to turn around and move back toward the Savior. The beautiful thing about this invitation to “draw near” is that it matters not how far you have gone in the opposite direction, the offer still stands. And notice the reciprocal nature of God. When we draw near, He does the same. And it’s a good reminder because just a few verses earlier we read:

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4

We see that friendship with the world is hostility toward God. This world, as a general rule, is not acknowledging, moving toward, or pursuing God. If we choose to be a friend of the world, and that is our prerogative, we make ourselves enemies of God. This passage doesn’t say that God wants to be our enemy, it simply lays out the choice of seeking God or being friends with the world and its ways. So, this passage makes our passage today even more encouraging. We don’t have to go the way of the world rather we can turn around and seek after God. For the Christian, this means forsaking the things that have kept us from serving God with all of our being (Hebrews 12:1-2). For the unbeliever, this invitation is to come and receive salvation in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10, John 3:3). Either way, we are invited to “draw near” and when we do, we can be assured that God will draw near to us (Matthew 6:6). 

But along with this invitation to “draw near,” is a reminder that we need to do a spiritual assessment. And with this assessment comes the willingness to make any adjustments to our lifestyles, our hearts, and our priorities.

Cleanse Your Hands

“Cleansing our hands” is dealing with our actions, our very lifestyles. How would you describe your lifestyle? On what do you build your life? How would others describe your lifestyle? These are important questions because the answers to these questions reveal where we are spiritually and let’s us know whether or not we need to make adjustments. A call to “draw near” to God means that He (God) will reveal to us the things that simply do not belong in our lives. Being willing to make the necessary adjustments to our lifestyles will lead us into a deeper relationship with God. Disobedience, in this area, will serve to drive us further away from the God who loves us and the Christ who died on our behalf. “Cleanse your hands, you sinners”…is a call to repentance and to align our lives with God’s purposes and ways.

Purify Your Hearts

Our words, attitudes, motives, and the way in which we live our lives, all flow from the heart. If we truly love God with all of heart, then we will desire the things of God over the things of the world. Your heart is the “seat of your affections.” It is the real you. We can think of the heart as that from which all other decisions in our lives are made. The general direction of our lives reveals our heart. Consider these words:

Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you.Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established.Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.

        Proverbs 4:23-27

We are to guard our hearts for from the heart “flows the springs of life.” Our hearts dictate our speech. We are to put away a “deceitful mouth” and “devious speech.” Our hearts also guide what we look at on television and on our mobile devices. “Let your eyes look directly ahead” is a call to stay focused on the Lord and His ways, “not turning to the right or to the left.” Our hearts direct the way in which we live. That is why we should “watch the path of our feet,” meaning the course and general direction of our lives. “Keeping our foot from evil” means that we are careful how we live. All of this is a reminder as to why we should guard and cleanse our hearts so we will be pleasing to God and our actions, speech, and lifestyles will demonstrate that very fact. 

Don’t Be Double-Minded

Drawing near to God is an invitation for us to fellowship with Him, listening to Him for direction in our lives, “cleansing our hands,” and “purifying our hearts.” But this verse concludes with an accusation that the people had become “double-minded.” In the original language, the term is “two-souled.” This is a description of people who claim one thing with their mouths but live in a way opposing the very things that they say. The simplest example that I can give is saying, “I’m a Christian. I love God with all of my heart and I desire to please Him in all respects.” Then, after making these remarks, going out and chasing after everything the world tells us is important, engaging in activities and habits that have no business in the life of a believer. This would be “double-minded” or “two-souled.” These folks just can’t seem to make up their mind when it comes following Christ, which requires self-denial, the prioritizing of godly things, and a rejection of the world and its ways. We should be fully committed to following Jesus and seeking Him with all of our heart. 

So, we have a choice to make. We can seek God with all of our heart, forsaking the ways of the world or, by default, we will find ourselves completely entrenched in the world. If we should find ourselves out of fellowship with God, it’s time to turn around and take God up on His invitation to “draw near.” If you’re already a Christian, consider this as your battle cry as you “draw near”:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…

        Hebrews 12:1-2a

If you have never given your life to Jesus, consider this as you “draw near” to God:

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 2:38

Let this be the day that we all draw near to God, knowing that, as we do, He will draw near to us!