Entwine our lives around His and abide in Him – James 4:8 AMP
The Hebrew word for wait (Qawah) in Isaiah 40:31 (see part one of in the waiting) not only means to patiently wait, to expect and to hope. It also means to entwine.
Isn’t entwine such a lovely word. It reminds me of the twining stems of a vine wrapping itself directly around an object. This makes me think of John 15 where Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches and if we remain in Him, we will bear much fruit. One could say – if we ENTWINE our lives around Him – we are remaining in Him. But that’s just my poetic take on it.
Entwining is something that only occurs when a twining stem is close to the object it’s entwining with. James 4:8 says the following:
Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people]. James 4:8 AMP
The Hebrew word for “come close” is engizō which in this context means communion with God in prayer and the desired and cherished fellowship with him.
the Hebrew word for “wash your hands” is katharizó which in this context means to purify yourself from the pollution and guilt of sin.
Being double-minded means having conflicting dispositions – basically, believing in God’s way and equally in the world’s way. There can only be one way.
We have seen here that prayer (communion with God) is the way to come close to God. There is a promise here, when we come close to Him, He comes close to us. Challenge yourself to spend more time in prayer and if you don’t pray, challenge yourself to start.
God, In this season of waiting, I want to entwine my life around Yours. I want to draw close to you in prayer with the faith that you will keep your promise to draw close to me. Purify me from the pollution and guilt of sin and show me if there is any double-mindedness in me. Help me to submit and surrender only to You and Your ways. Amen.