Why is it that only those with clean hands and a pure heart can enter God’s presence? Maybe it’s because they are the only ones who want to. 

It’s impossible to enjoy a good sin now and then go to God like you two are old buddies sitting down to tell stories of conquests and intimate experiences. God spoke helpful words of clarity through Isaiah:

Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, 
and his ear is not too deaf to hear. 
But your iniquities are separating you 
from your God, 
and your sins have hidden his face from you 
so that he does not listen.
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭CSB‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/1713/isa.59.1-2.CSB

God knows what we are really like. We can fool the preacher, fool the people, we can even fool ourselves, but we can’t fool God. He sees what we choose not to confess. He sees what we think we have hidden from discovery. He sees what we refuse to surrender. 

Today is a good day to come clean. 

Every day is a good day to come clean. 

The Lectio 365 app is wonderfully helpful in this regard. The morning devotional sets us on the right path. The evening devotional, in part, helps us come clean regarding where we stepped off the path and soiled our hands and hearts. The readers help us talk to God about our wayward ways. They help us wash our hands. They help us receive God’s forgiveness.

While I most often shower in the morning, I also prefer to lie down and rest fully confessed. 

A simple prayer from this psalm has become a boon companion. There are moments in the day when I simply pray, “Our Father, please give me a pure heart and clean hands.” 

Pure desires deliver us into God’s goodness. Clean hands equip us for God’s work. 

Now is a good time to come clean, to enter into God’s presence, and to work on those projects that honor him and serve others. 

Start the day and finish the day in the same way. Take your filth to Jesus and ask him to wash you clean. Ask him to prepare you for rest and again to prepare you for meaningful work.

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I will enter God’s presence with a pure heart and clean hands. 

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Our Father, the nearer I draw to you, the more easily I see my sin. The nearer I draw to you, the more I want to be clean. Cleanse my hands. Purify my heart. I want to know and experience you in all the fullness and delight you make possible. Amen.