Wash Your Hands

Saturday 4/11/20 6:11 AM

While going on my walk this morning I reviewed my memory verses. When I recited James 4:6-10 I thought about the phrase “wash your hands, you sinners” because of the pandemic crisis we are currently weathering and I also reflected on other parts of the verses. Imagine my surprise when I opened my devotional book today and found the assigned reading to be James 4:1-10! Verses 6-10 read, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

I thought about our society and the pride we had in ourselves just a few weeks ago. The stock market was at an all-time high. Unemployment was at an all-time low. The economy was booming and everyone was happy. Then, in the matter of a few weeks, the stock market plummeted and lost thirty percent of its value, a record number of people became unemployed and are now unable to buy food or pay the rent, and the economy has stalled and is in recession. Laughter and frivolity have changed to mourning and gloom, not by choice but because of circumstances. I pray that, as a society, we can become humbler because of this crisis, that we will turn to God and recognize our need for him, and that God would draw many to himself who did not previously see any need for God in their lives.

The pandemic has given me a lot of extra time to contemplate my own need for God. It has resulted in a renewed relationship and a deeper intimacy with God. My psalm for the week includes Psalm 43:3, “Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” I feel that God has graciously cared for me and led me closer to him, helping me to recognize that he dwells within me.