Cleanliness
is important in our daily lives. Posters remind us to wash our hands; cleansing wipes are available at the entrance to many
stores and hand sanitizer abounds, from giant economy size right down to a tiny purse size. Do you ever wonder how we got
along before this new obsession? We know and value the importance of personal cleanliness.
When visitors come, we want them to see us as neat and clean, with everything in place. Dirty laundry, messy bathrooms
(when will those kids learn!) and dishes in the sink don’t represent the person we want to be. With our busy, more casual
lives, hopefully the days of visitors inspecting every nook and cranny and making a judgment on what has or has not been done
have gone by the wayside. But if you have a reoccurring nightmare of your mother - in - law looking in every possible corner,
perhaps it’s time to take action!
Jesus chided the Pharisees for cleaning
the outside of a cup and leaving the inside dirty, saying they were blind. He then instructed them to first clean the inside
and in the process, the outside would also be cleaned, Matthew 23:25, 26. Clean, as used here, is katharos in the
Greek; free from impurity, without blemish or spotless, W.E. Vine, page 186. When Jesus was washing the feet of the disciples,
there was some discussion about bathing and then Jesus noted that not all the disciples were clean. Of course, we recognize
that He was not talking about their bodies, but their hearts, John 13:5-11. One particular heart was not katharos;
not spotless or without blemish. Clean can be relative when speaking of daily living, but not when we’re speaking of
our hearts.
Early on, we learn that a clean heart is to be treasured. In the Psalm
that was written after Nathan approached David about his sin with Bathsheba, David begged for that unsoiled heart and rightly
so! After breaking five of God’s Ten Commandments by coveting, committing adultery, lying about it, murdering Uriah
and stealing his wife, he desperately needed for his heart to be clean once again.
“Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear
joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” Psalm 51:7-10.
God has blessed us with solutions! How else could David be called “a man after God’s
own heart”? David needed unwavering resolve to have a clean heart; he longed for it; craved it and was sorry he
had not continued to cultivate it, Psalm 6; 32; 38; 143.
Since we are looking
into our hearts, how is our resolve? How far away is our clean heart? God will see the harsh words spoken, the little lie
told on the phone or the envy exhibited over someone’s possessions. He sees the bitterness and animosity we may have
toward others. We may view those as petty sins, not really that important. God also sees the less than desirable content we
viewed on the internet, flirting that shouldn’t have happened on girl’s night out or the amount of time wasted
on television or Facebook. Perhaps we’re just bored with marriage and have taken that relationship for granted; bored
with trying to build relationships with our sisters in Christ or trying to make others feel welcome and appreciated; so
bored we even tend to gossip just to entertain ourselves. We’re just bored, bored, bored. (Have we forgotten the things
God hates, Proverbs 6:16- 19?) Maybe it’s presumptuous of me, but that seemed to be David’s problem. He was not
busy and let his boredom lead him into sin. Why had he stayed in Jerusalem while his army went out to battle? He had been
in the battle against the sons of Ammon in the previous chapter. Why did he stay behind? Why was he walking around on the
roof in the evening?
Whatever the reason, 2 Samuel 12: 27 put it into perspective:
“The thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.”
Sin is like dirty laundry. We need to acknowledge it; sort it; use appropriate methods
for cleansing; and then fold it neatly before the Lord, making every effort to keep it clean, replacing any haughtiness with
humility. (When stains are left untreated, you know what happens.) We might be able to fool an unexpected visitor by hiding
some of our dirty laundry, but God is not an unexpected visitor. He knows every bit of our spiritual dirt. There was plenty
of filthy, dirty laundry in 1 Corinthians 6:9,10; so much so that one may think it would never come clean – but it did,
when the cleanser in verse 11 was applied.
“Or do you not
know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will
inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
Jesus spoke of all the evil things that can come out of the heart of man, Mark 7:20-23. James tells
us a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, James 1:6-8. We learn how deceitful a heart can be in Jeremiah 17: 9-10.
"The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately
sick; Who can understand it? ‘I, the LORD, search the heart,
I
test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways,
according
to the results of his deeds.’ ”
There are stubborn hearts, hard
hearts, proud hearts and evil hearts. How can these dirty hearts ever become clean? We probably have a pretty good idea, but
do you ever wonder if your heart is clean or dirty? Closely examine yourself, asking what you do and why
you do it. The Pharisees liked attention and made sure their good works were noticed. Do we do the same? Remember Jesus’
comment? “They have their reward in full,” Matthew 6:2. Ouch! Let’s pay attention to that and make
correction as needed. Missing the full reward would be heart-breaking.
“For
the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and
spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (emphasis mine,jj).
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do,” Hebrews 4:12,13.
The New Year is a time for
organizing, straightening and cleaning our physical dwellings. We want them clean enough to pass mother-in-law inspection!
What about our spiritual dwelling? What will it mean to you to have a clean heart? Are we ready for cleaning up our hearts?
Roll up your sleeves, there’s work involved, but just as with any project, the result has its rewards.
“I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and will glorify Your name forever,” Psalm 86:12.
"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support
those whose heart is completely His,” 2 Chronicles 16:9.
