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Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:8, LSB

God can see our hearts and knows where our loyalties lie. Many believe in Jesus, but He is just put between other gods or idols. The reality of humanity is that when we look at the commandments of God, which we often look only to the ten, we fail at the first. What other gods do we worship? Money is the one many like to point out and clear themselves of guilt, but there are many. If God is on a list in your life and is not the first thing, then everything placed above God is an idol. When we confess our sin, we are cleansed of that sin by our Lord, and when we admit our guilt, we purify our hearts from our double-minded nature. This begins when we admit we are not good or righteous through any of our actions. Going to church services on Sunday mornings, regular reading of Scripture, a vibrant prayer life, or any other service or act we perform makes us righteous. All of these may be in response to righteousness given to us through Jesus Christ, but it is in our full reliance on God that purifies and renews our souls. We are made new and refreshed through His washing and renewal of us which we receive regularly as we lean and rely upon His forgiveness and mercy. As we turn more of our lives over to our Lord, the greater peace we may know and the more may come to know Him through our lives as we seek to bring His peace into our world.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.