Wash your hands!?

It is possible to get so enamored with our own religious traditions that we miss the very heart of worship.

The Pharisees got their britches bent out of shape because the disciples of Jesus didn’t wash their hands before they ate. Of course, this was pre-Covid! LOL! And according to their tradition, that would make them defiled.

Jesus said to them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites, for he wrote: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God” (Mark 7:6-7).  

True worship is not about washing your hands or raising your hands or saying particular prayers or observing special days or abstaining from certain foods.

It’s about living in faith from a heart of reverence and awe and purity and humility and love and obedience toward a holy God. Worship springs from a heart that overflows with gratitude for the marvelous mercy and amazing grace of the Savior who came down from heaven to save wretches like you and me.

Jesus went on to say that it’s not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of a person that defiles him. “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Mark 8:21-23).

The Bible says plainly that all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In other words, we’re all defiled, and we all deserve the just penalty for our sins, which is death and eternal separation from God in hell.

And no amount of washing our hands or keeping religious traditions can take away our sin. But Jesus can, and He did.

“But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

“For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The defilements of our sin stains are forgiven at the cross, where Christ took the nails for us. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

So, go and please wash your hands before you eat and use all the hand sanitizer you want, but make sure that your heart is washed clean by repenting from sin and receiving Jesus as the Savior and Master of your life.