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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