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.
Psalm 24:3–4
God has rigid requirements for those who want to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. There is no easy access to God forthose with unclean hands or an impure heart. It is an affront to holyGod to assume that we can indulge in our sin and blatantly disobey Hisword, then brazenly enter the holy of holies. In Old Testament times,one’s hands represented one’s activities. Clean hands symbolized pureactivities. Priests washed their hands before serving in the temple tosymbolize that only those who were cleansed could worship holy God.There are levels of intimacy with God.
The moment you become aChristian you begin a relationship with the Lord. However, if youpersist in your sin, sin will separate you from God and keep you fromenjoying close fellowship with Him. If you follow only God’s basiccommandments but resist every time God gives you specific, personaldirections, you will never fully experience the depths of God’sPerson. If, however, you are like the psalmist and understand theholiness of God, you will adjust your life to His standards andrespond to His prompting so that you may have deeper fellowship withHim. The closer you get to holy God, the more obvious even yoursmallest sins become. The more you know of God’s character, the moreyou will realize the need to wash your hands and purify your heartbefore you can get close to Him. Are you willing for Almighty God tomake you absolutely pure before Him so that you can enjoy the maximumpossible relationship with Him?
