Are your hands clean?

“Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.” Psalm 24:3-5

As parents we teach our children to wash their hands especially before eating for obvious reasons.  Cleanliness is very important to our physical health and the events of recent years have demonstrated clearly the importance of hygiene.

This passage from Psa 24 however describes hygiene of a different type, and dare I say of far greater importance.  Those who truly desire to abide in the Father’s Presence (v3) are those with clean (free from guilt, innocent) hands and a pure (sincere) heart.  This speaks to us of pure motives, intentions and actions in dealing with others in thought, word and deed.

The passage goes on to articulate further prerequisites to living in the Presence of God.  They are those who maintain purity in worship and speak the truth.  In other words those who don’t have idols in their lives and have integrity in their speech and actions.  As humans we worship that upon which we focus.

In a world where truth is becoming more and more subjective, a growing prevalence of ‘anything goes’, trial by media, and the ‘gospel according to YouTube’, we must remain steadfast in our worship, integrity and discernment.  Near enough isn’t good enough.

You might be wondering what this has to do with healing.  I believe the truth is simply stated thus:- if we desire to live under the protection and covering of God then we must live according to His ways.  The Bible uses some old fashioned words in this regard – statutes and ordinances.  In simple terms, statutes are those Biblical standards or boundaries for life. Ordinances are those commands God has given in order for us to live under the favour of heaven. These aren’t popular words in our 21st century society.  However as I often say, if we want heaven’s results and blessings we have to live life heaven’s way  in accordance with God’s ordinances and statutes.

The Christian life isn’t keeping a whole list of rules and regulations and hopefully somehow ‘qualifying’ for a place in heaven.  It is a daily relationship with the One who gave His life for us. Who wouldn’t want to live in harmony with Him?  The way to do that, put simply today, is to have clean hands and a pure heart?

So let me ask you are your hands clean and is your heart pure?  If not, ask the Lord to forgive you and show you how to live according to His Word.  He longs to have each and every one of His children up close and personal with Him – not distant and separated.