Hand Washing and Heart Cleansing

She was four decades my junior and, in many ways, just finding her way, but, for a brief time, we were prayer partners. We longed to see God move, to see Him change hearts and lives in tangible ways, so we agreed to meet before worship services and pray. 

I, who have spoken about prayer and fasting numerous times, expected to teach her about prayer. Instead, she taught me a very important lesson.

The first time we met, she washed her hands before we prayed.

Her hands had not become soiled between her house and the church. The hand washing had nothing to do with dirty hands. It was about a dirty heart. Her symbolic cleansing made sense to me. I washed my hands, too, and, as we washed, we asked God to cleanse our hearts.

It's a principle as old as the tabernacle. God instructed Moses to put the bronze laver, filled with water, between the tent of meeting and the altar. Moses, Aaron, and Aaron's sons were to wash their hands and their feet before they approached the altar as a symbol of man's need for cleansing before God.

Soap and water will never remove the stain of our sin, of course. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse me of sin. I know that. 

The symbolic hand washing is a reminder that I go before God with no righteousness of my own. My life is stained by sin and only God can remove it. As I wash my hands, I ask Him to do just that. Cleanse and purify.

King David knew the power of God's cleansing. After his terrible debacle with Bathsheba, his sin haunted him night and day. That's what sin does. Its relentless clamor and accusations leave us exhausted and hopeless. 

David wanted peace, and he knew where to find it. He went before the Lord and begged for cleansing. 

"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin..." 

Psalm 51:1 nasb

David knew what he wanted and he knew there was only one way to get it. God's cleansing and forgiveness.

Clean heart. Right spirit. 

When we allow God to cleanse us from our sin and wash us white as snow, we get a bonus of peace and joy.

Are we burden by the choices we've made? The sin in our lives? Do we desire peace? Allow God to create a clean heart, clean mind in us. When we do, we'll find that He has restored our joy as well.

"Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit." 

Psalm 51:12 nasb

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photo courtesy of freeimages.com

In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links:  Leaving a Legacy: Choices That Last for Generations, Jumping to Conclusions: The Terrorists That Were Not, Nothing is Impossible: Ayman al-Zawahiri,  Morning Quiet Time: Who Speaks First, Changing the World: What One Man (Or Woman) Can do, When Hard Times Come: Pressing On, and Friday Night with Friends: Sara Foust.

#chronologicalBible, cleansing #cleanheart #forgiveness #disciple #JesusChrist

Giving with gusto

But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you. "But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. (Luke 11:41-42 NASB)

In the previous verses, we saw that Jesus had refused to obey the ceremonial ritual of hand washing before the meal. It was not a law of God but a rule of man, added to expand the law. The Pharisees, Jesus told them, were more concerned with washing their hands than with cleansing their hearts from wickedness. 

Matthew Henry wrote, "to keep ourselves free from scandalous enormities, and yet to live under the dominion of spiritual wickedness, is as great an affront to God as it would be for a servant to give the cup into his master's hand, clean wiped from all the dust on the outside, but within full of cobwebs and spiders." When I visualize his words, it is a startling reminder that God sees our hearts and all that is within them. Allowing Him to cleanse our hearts is much more important than cleansing our hands.

Instead of washing their hands, Jesus recommended that they give to the poor. This was a reference to Deuteronomy 26 (worth reviewing later) in which the first fruits were to be given as a tithe and shared with those who were less fortunate. Only then were they to enjoy the blessings of the land God had given them.

The Pharisee and his friends would have done better to cleanse themselves before the meal by charitable giving. Matthew Henry again wrote "What we have is not our own, unless God have his dues out of it; and it is by liberality to the poor that we clear up to ourselves our liberty to make use of our creature-comforts."

The Pharisees were exacting in calculating their tithe, going so far as to tithe the mint and dill in their gardens. Jesus said it is good to be careful about the tithe, but not at the expense of justice and the love of God. 

Do the most important things first, He was saying, but don't neglect the other. As Micah wrote, God requires justice and mercy as well as walking humbly with Him. Justice and mercy are an outgrowth of walking with our God. Tithing alone is simply a charitable deed, no matter how exacting our calculations. The blessing is gained when charitable giving is an outgrowth of a relationship with our Lord, an outgrowth of our love for God. 

The key word is relationship. God created man for fellowship with Him. Our reason for existence is a relationship with Him, yet we focus our lives on everything else. I'm as guilty as anyone else. It is much easier to write a donation check than to allow God to cleanse my heart of the sin that so easily besets us. My giving, however, only has meaning because of my relationship with God. Allowing Him to cleanse me is a vital part of walking with Him.

I learned something from a young girl with whom I met to pray several times. Before we started to pray, she would wash her hands as a symbol that she wanted to be clean before the Lord, both inside and out. I've found myself doing the same thing since then. As I wash my hands before intercession, I pray the same prayer David prayed. Create in me a clean heart, (not just clean hands) and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:2)

Today, let's ask God to cleanse us inside and out, making sure that our giving is an outpouring from a heart of love toward God rather than one more task on our checklist. Let's give with gusto, because we love.

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 NASB)

Hey, He's talking about me!

Woe unto you! for ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk over them know it not. And one of the lawyers answering saith unto him, Teacher, in saying this thou reproachest us also. And he said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye load men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers: for they killed them, and ye build their tombs. (Luke 11:44-48 ASV)

I know that Jesus was as serious as He could be. He had come to save us from our sin and He was heading to the cross to do it. There was nothing funny about it, but sometimes His interactions with people make me laugh. This is one of those times. 

Here's the Leanna Paraphrase: Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You should be ashamed of yourselves. You're like dead men walking. You look great on the outside. All your good deeds and church attendance make people think you're alive, but you are dead on the inside. You're contaminating everyone you come in contact with." One of the lawyers who was there said, "Hey, Jesus. Watch it. You're reproaching us lawyers, too. You're talking about me!" 

Even if I thought I was as bad as the Pharisee's (which I am), I'd never have admitted it in that company, never have risked Jesus shining His spotlight on my life. Of course, Jesus turned to the lawyer and said, "You're right. You lawyers should be ashamed of yourselves, too." 

I laugh, and then I realize that I should be the one saying, "Hey, wait a minute, Jesus. You're talking about me!" It makes me want to cry, not laugh, because it's true.

I want to be the one that is most like Jesus. I want to clearly represent Christ to a lost and perishing world, yet I fail Him on a daily basis. Literally, I fail Jesus every day. Maybe you're saying, "Hey, wait a minute. Now you're talking about me!" That would be true. There is no one among us who is righteous. (Romans 6:23) All of us fail God on a regular basis. All of us sin.

Some of us are murderers with guns and knives. Some of us are murderers with our mouths. Some of us commit sexual sin with our bodies. Some of us commit sexual sin with our eyes and our minds. Whether our sin is overt or covert, it is still sin. Christ still died for it.

Jesus wasn't talking to the people in the jails or the nightclubs. He was talking to the "church people" when He said, "You should be ashamed of yourselves." He was talking about the people at my church. He was talking about me. 

I find it easier to keep my sinful heart hidden rather than confess it and allow Him to make me clean. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Pharisees did, and, as I suspected, I am just like a Pharisee. 

We will see in the next chapter of Luke that everything hidden will be revealed and it makes my heart sink. Is He saying that all the sin I have carefully hidden where no one can see, my critical, judgmental spirit, my pride and arrogance, my greed, covetousness, etc will be revealed? Yes, He is. If that is true (and it is) I would do well to leave no sin hidden. Then, there will be nothing to reveal.

Does that mean I might as well flaunt my sin for all to see? No. It means I can repent of my sin and relinquish it. That doesn't sound like fun, but a wonderful thing happens when we confess. 1 John 1:9 tells us that, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Whew! If I will confess it, He will clean every bit of my sin out of my life and forgive it all.

Why, then, do we continue to hang on to our sin? We like darkness more than light. We like sin more than righteousness. Crazy, but true, until I remember the great joy in having a heart that is clean and pure before God. In His presence is joy and I want it.

In the interest of a clean heart and the joy that comes from it, I confess my sins and repent. It's what we all must do if we don't want to be like the Pharisees. I'm like Paul - the worst of sinners, and you are, too, but there's good news. 

I was shown mercy and, in the mercy shown to me, Christ has displayed His immense patience as an example to all. He was talking about me when He said, "She's the worst sinner of all, and I have forgiven her." He was talking about you and me.

So let's live our lives in such a way that the world will say, "Look how much He forgave. Look what God did in her, in him. I want that, too." It's amazing that, even in failure, our lives can be used to bring others to Christ.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15-16 NIV)