Come Near To God

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Lent Meditations

⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

-James 4:6-10 (NIV)

Yesterday we talked about how during Lent we intentionally humble ourselves before God in preparation for the joy of Easter—the way up is down. (If you missed yesterday’s reading, you can still read it here.)

God promises that when we come near to Him, He will come near to us. We don’t have to guess what it means to “come near to God” or how we go about it. The next verse makes it clear: We draw near to God by repenting and purifying our hearts. Before we can laugh with joy, we have to mourn. Before we can be lifted up, we must humbly bow down.

What does God want to purify from your heart? Take a few minutes right now to be still, ask Him, and listen. Wait on God, and He will show you.

Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,
[...]
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

-from The Valley of Vision, a book of Puritan prayers

Tags: Lent 2010