Must Wash Hands

It’s slightly psychologically reassuring to see the mandatory “Employees Must Wash Hands” sign in fast food restaurants and other eateries. As a customer, it gives me hope that the people handling my food are following this important hygienic rule. After all, it is the law. Similarly, God has certain cleanliness requirements of us. Do we always follow the laws of spiritual hygiene?

When Moses brought the Law to the Israelites, there were very specific rules about cleanliness. Whoever coined the phrase “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” must have been reading the book of Leviticus! Various activities led to uncleanliness, such as touching the carcass of a dead animal, being in the same room as a dead body, having contact with someone who had an infectious skin disease, and even handling material with mildew. Ceremonial washing was introduced so that God’s people could be cleansed and remain holy.

As time went on, this ceremonial washing became a ritual—a mindless cleansing that was done out of habit, rather than an aim for true holiness. But God demands more than that from us. In Mark 7, we find that Jesus was approached by the Pharisees who had observed some of His disciples eating with unclean hands (the disciples had not participated in the ceremonial washing). The Pharisees challenged Jesus on this issue, but He called them out on their hypocrisy, saying, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” Jesus let them know that “going through the motions” of holiness was unacceptable. God demands a higher level of accountability.

Imagine if you were in a restaurant and you saw the chef, after using the restroom, simply run his/her hands under the water and shake them off nonchalantly. No soap, no warm water, and no actual rubbing the hands together to rid them of germs; just a half-hearted attempt to follow the rules. You might think twice about eating at that place!

The same goes for our spiritual cleanliness. The world is a dirty place, filthy with sin. We shouldn’t simply go through the motions of seeking a clean heart; we need to honestly go before the Lord daily and ask Him for renewal. True cleanliness begins from within. When we turn to Him and turn away from the temptations of evil, we are pleasing to the Lord.

“The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.” (Psalm 18:20)