Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who
may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Psalms
24:3-4a
God has rigid requirements for
those who want to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. There is no easy access
to God for those with unclean hands or an impure heart. It is an affront to
holy God to assume that we can indulge in our sin and blatantly disobey His
word, then brazenly enter the holy of holies. In Old Testament times, one’s
hands represented one’s activities. Clean hands symbolized pure activities.
Priests washed their hands before serving in the temple to symbolize that only
those who were cleansed could worship holy God.
There are levels of intimacy
with God. The moment you become a Christian you begin a relationship with the
Lord. However, if you persist in your sin, sin will separate you from God and
keep you from enjoying close fellowship with Him. If you follow only God’s
basic commandments but resist every time God gives you specific, personal
directions, you will never fully experience the depths of God’s Person. If,
however, you are like the psalmist and understand the holiness of God, you will
adjust your life to His standards and respond to His prompting so that you may
have deeper fellowship with Him.
The closer you get to holy God,
the more obvious even your smallest sins become. The more you know of God’s
character, the more you will realize the need to wash your hands and purify
your heart before you can get close to Him.
Are you willing for almighty God
to make you absolutely pure before Him so that you can enjoy the maximum
possible relationship with Him?
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