Drawing Near to God

What does it mean to draw near to God? Well, it means to get our hearts in his presence and align that and associate ourselves in the closest possible manner with the creator of the universe. What does it mean to draw near to God? Well, something I found interesting is in both of these verses that we’re kind of using as our source text this morning in Hebrews 10:22 and in James 4:8. There has to do with the concept of cleanliness of the heart. I’ll read 10:22 again. It says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,” so our heart has to be true and it needs to be sprinkled or cleansed from an evil conscience. If we turn over to James chapter 4 verse eight, after it says “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts,” so what does it mean to draw near to God? Well, in some capacity, it means to purify our hearts and purify ourselves.