Come Near To God And He Will Come Near To You

"Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."  James 4:8 (NIV)

James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote this letter to the scattered believers during the time of their persecution, to encourage them to continue to seek Christ.  He told them to pursue an intimate and personal relationship with God in spite of their persecution.  Basically, he said that God will be with those who follow Him.  They needed to clean up their hearts, thoughts, minds, and actions and do His will, and not return to their worldly ways.

If we make an active effort to get closer to God, He will be pleased and we will be blessed.  We need to cleanse and purify our thoughts, deeds, and spoken words to become more Christ-like.  Reading and studying the Bible will help our minds, but we need to pray and apply that Bible knowledge to our daily lives.  How we act towards God is a conscious choice.  We must be sincere in our efforts to follow Him and to obey His Word.  We must pray, and seek Him with a clean heart and a right spirit, and that only He can create within us.  (Psalms 51:10)