“O
loving and kind God, have mercy. Have pity on me and take away the
awful stain of my
transgressions. Oh, wash me, cleanse me
from this guilt.
Let me be pure again. Psalm 51: 1-2 (Living)
requested to prepare the main entrée for family
gatherings. When one of our grandsons
was about ten years old, he was one of my most enthusiastic culinary fans. One day he asked me, “Grandpa, will you teach
me how to cook?” I agreed and he and I discussed what dish
should be our initial effort. He chose
chicken cacciatore.
Our learning session began with processing the chicken
strips and ended with preparing the sauce.
Our meal turned out well and I was quite pleased with our joint
efforts. However, I was a bit dismayed
when I overheard his reply to his Grandmother’s question as to what he had
learned working with Grandpa. “ I learned how to wash my hands! Every time I touched something I had wash
them again and this happened every few minutes!” I was previously unaware of my emphasis on
cleanliness around the kitchen and just associated the practice as being a
normal part of cooking.
Later as I reflected on
his observation I pondered whether the seemingly emphasis on washing might also
have a spiritual message
for believers. If I wash my hands
often as I go through the day as I sense that they may be unclean, might my
heart also need frequent cleansing?
I had previously delayed my “confessional time” until the end of the
day, but might some sin be immediately
confessed or “washed away” rather than put aside until later?
I feel that a Christian
who claims to love his Lord and desires to please Him needs to run a continuing
check on his words and deeds.
Consequently, whatever is contrary to the will of God should be
confessed immediately to Him who is willing and faithful to cleanse us from
all our sins.