Clean Hands and Pure Hearts

As I walked back home from dropping off the kids at the bus stop, I sang the words to the familiar song by Chris Tomlin:  "We bow our hearts, we bend our knees, oh Spirit come make us humble.  We turn our eyes from evil things, oh Lord we cast down our idols.  Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts; let us not lift our souls to another..."  I thought carefully about the lyrics of this song I enjoy singing to God.  My mind focused on the phrase, "Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts."

Immediately my mind went to James 4:8:  "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."  When I compared the song to the verse, I saw a subtle but profound difference.  Now don't get me wrong - I am not trashing the song by any means.  When singing the song, I asked God to give me clean hands and a pure heart.  When I read the passage in James, these are things I have the responsibility to appropriate.  The song takes a more passive feel where the scripture dumps the reponsibility upon me.

The truth is we cannot clean our hands or purify our hearts through our best efforts.  This cleansing only comes through repentance and faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  God gives us clean hands and pure hearts, but only when we meet His conditions:  humility, confession, repentance, and faith.  As I mused upon this fact, it occurred to me that we as Christians often request God to give us things He has already given.  The disconnect is we have not fulfilled our responsibility to trust and walk in faith.  God is not to be blamed for the fact we have dirty hands and impure hearts.  He has made the way through Jesus:  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He has given us the Holy Spirit who teaches, leads, and empowers us.

Years ago I attended a ECYWA meeting (just a little shout-out to my youth workers in East County!) during which prayer requests were shared with one another.  There was one youth worker who asked for prayer because he was struggling to get out of bed and was often late for work - which began at 10am!  It seemed he was asking God to do something for him he was unwilling to do for himself.  I wish I could have seen my shocked expression.  Billions of people every day get up and arrive to work on time without seeking the help of God.  God does not exist for us to justify our laziness.  God has given you breath and life:  you can go to bed earlier and set an alarm clock!  The old adage "God helps those who help themselves" is not scriptural but still makes a valid point:  though God works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure, by God we are held responsible to fulfill the duties He places before us in obedience.

Let us seek to lay hold of the promises of God by faith.  Instead of asking for what God has already given, may we simply walk by faith in the truth.  We are to cleanse our own hands, and purify our own hearts through faith in the shed blood of Christ.  Prayer is no substitute for work:  prayer IS work!  God won't do for me what I am unwilling to do myself.  We do not labour for our own glory, but the glory of God!