Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Way back in chapter 1, verses 6 – 7, James writes about the double-minded person. He says a person who doubts is “double-minded.”
The Greek for “double-minded” is interesting. The word is, “dipsychos.” The prefix, “di-“ means two, or double. To say one is “double-minded” is a very literal way of saying a person has divided interests. More than that, James suggests the division is spiritually debilitating.
As I look back on my life, it seems to me that I have always suffered from some form of dipsychos. This world is very convincing. It claims to be the only thing that matters. It clammers for my attention every day. Yet the clues God has given us to His presence are very real. They have tugged at me my whole life.
As I have come to know God more personally, I have shifted my weight from relying on this world to relying on God’s Word. I am still “dipsychos,” but less divided than I used to be.
In today’s verse, James encourages us to wash our hands of this world. He wants us to purify our hearts and focus entirely on God. Is that a tall order? It might seem that way. The amazing thing is that as we come near to God, he comes near to us. (Verse 8a) When we wash our hands and purify our hearts we cleanse ourselves of the distractions of the world and focus more fully on God.
Application: Strive to understand God better. Read His Word every day.
Food for Thought: How do we wash our hands and purify our hearts in the sense that James means?
One way is to love God instead of the world. We need to have a heart that is undivided. “Washing our hands” is a metaphor for removing the uncleanliness of our sin. People are washing their hands a lot these days to try to remove the potential virus. In a similar way we need to remove the sin from our lives and walk in the cleanliness of God’s will.
Rich,
Thank you! The comparison to the Corona virus is very apt. Keeping ourselves clean doesn’t make us impervious to the illness any more than keeping spiritually clean makes us fit for heaven. What it does do is keep us healthy while we are here on earth. In the spiritual sense being healthy means more spiritual benefits for us and being better able to serve God.
👍🏻