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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