February 7
“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
Drawing near to God is such an important aspect of what we are to be doing daily in Christ, I want to spend a little more time on this. Suppose we know that we have ignored God, maybe blatantly sinned against Him in some way, and we are feeling like we should try to pursue God, but we really don’t think He would want to be near us or we aren’t sure how to pursue Him. If this describes your feelings, don’t let them discourage you from pursuing Him anyway. That is ALWAYS the right thing to do, and despite our feelings, He will ALWAYS favor those who do pursue Him more than those who don’t.
Do you recall what the scriptures say one should do? If we _______, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many of you know this verse, it is 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confessing our sins is our lifeline to God, especially when we feel distant or dirty, both during times where we know we have sinned and times when we really aren’t sure what is wrong.
But it is truly difficult to confess our sins. There is something innate in us that wants to justify ourselves, to make ourselves out to be not that bad, to not actually say to the Lord or others that we sinned and are in the wrong. I can’t tell you how many times I have been feeling generally irritable or glum, perhaps convicted about this sin or that sin, and yet I am unable or unwilling to think it though and confess my sins. But oh how sweet it is when I do, and I feel that release of the burden. It is like the Lord gives a measure of instant relief and some refreshment to the soul that confesses his or her sins to God!
However, we can’t fool God, and we can’t confess to “making a mistake,” for example, if what we did was display unwarranted anger and said hurtful things. We must be honest with ourselves and with God. We also should be wary of confessing our sins begrudgingly. We must be genuine and heartfelt about our repentance, I think, to gain a clear conscience and full restoration with the Lord.
Also, we ought to pay attention if someone comes to mind in relation to our confession, and it is often the case that when we sin we have others to apologize to as well. These confessions to God and others must be sincere and quick, and we ought to find the burden is lifted, and rather than burying it or hoping it goes away (it never does without confession), we find relief and joy. Start the process of drawing near to God by making quick work of realizing when you are sinning and confessing it immediately to God and others. You will be very glad you did!