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

Mamie and the Ink Stain

Alas, I fear Mamie the Apprentice Wonder Puppy will never be a Wonder Dog. Mamie is still a puppy at heart, and determined to stay in that cuddly, rowdy state. Maturity would help us both, if she would only embrace it.

I had just returned to my computer after lunch yesterday when I heard a crunching sound. "What is that?" I wondered. The sound continued. My next thought was, "It must be Mamie."  I was right.

Mamie had climbed up on a table (as only a determined puppy can do) and found a blue fountain pen. She had carried it to my red couch and used it as a chew toy. As you can imagine, blue ink went every where in a mad Rorschach pattern. 

My heart sank. Blue ink. All over one cushion of my couch. It looked like a catastrophe.

I jerked the cushion off the couch and raced to the kitchen sink, praying every step of the way. Slipcover off. Rinse the ink. Blot. Spray stain remover. Rinse. Blot. Spray. Rub. Rinse. Spray. On and on it went.

All thoughts of the scene I was writing and the direction I intended to take went right out of my head. The only thing that mattered at that moment was dealing with the stain.

Of course, the dark stain on the blood-red cushion reminded me of the stain of sin on our lives and the only thing that can remove it. The precious blood of Jesus.

I'm shocked, but the stain came out completely. I think it was, at least in part, because I reacted so promptly. The ink didn't have time to soak and dry in the fabric.

Quick action with stains makes a difference, but so does quick action with sin. If we would relent and repent at the beginning of our sin, before the stain has set, what a difference God would make.

Let's do a check of our hearts today and respond with the same urgency as we would if ink were on our couch cushions. 

Is there evidence of the ink-blot stain of sin in our lives? Let's relent and repent. Allow our Lord wash us clean in the precious blood of Jesus. 

Mamie may never reach the maturity of a "Wonder Dog", but we don't have to remain in our foolish, childish state. We can choose to become the mature men and woman God intended us to be. If we will.

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:

but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 

                                                                     1 Corinthians 12:11 nasdb

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, 

let us press on to maturity..."      

                                                     Hebrews 6:1 nasb

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Follow me on Twitter for "in the moment" tweets about my writing day. It's fun. @leannahollis
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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  The Opportunity in Trials,  The Monarch Migration Badge,  The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, Living in Goshen: God's Best, Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane, and What is the Point of Suffering: Extracting the Precious.

#Mamie #repent #maturity #Christian #disciple #Shoutgotitout