Spiritual Hygiene
| The Lord does not look
at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the
Lord looks at the heart. 1 Sam. 16:7, NIV. |
I’ve noticed
that my devotion to hygiene seems to vary depending on the time and place.
For example, in the typical restaurant I can be downright finicky. If I
was served a meal with a bug in my potato or seated at a table that wasn’t
free of crumbs or other debris, I would be outraged. Should my plate have
dried-on food from the previous meal, I would be indignant. If I dropped
my spoon on the carpeted floor, I would demand a replacement. A greasy
saltshaker would raise a protest. And if I knew that the cook’s hands were
dirty, I might even notify the health department.
However, on a weekend backpacking trip
a miraculous transformation occurs. When cooking over the open fire, are
the chef’s hands dirty? No problem—mine are dirty too. Is my plate a little
gritty from the last meal? That’s OK; it’s just food. We dine on the ground
with the dirt as our tablecloth and think nothing of it. If we drop a spoon
in the dirt, we simply wipe it off on our dirty pants and continue eating.
And of course, if a bug flies into our food, we just shovel out the unwanted
pest, flick it away, and without disrupting the rhythm of the meal, we
dine on. Quite a double standard, I admit!
Jesus condemned the Pharisees
for their double standard in the realm of spiritual hygiene. He declared:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean
the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and
self-indulgence” (Matt. 23:25, NIV).
Spiritual hygiene calls for
cleansing the inside, not a superficial once-over for human praise. When
I analyze my own relationship with God, I remember my illogical and intermittent
devotion to personal hygiene, and pray the prayer of Simon Peter: “Lord,
not my feet only, but [wash] also my hands and my head” (John 13:9).
| Dear Lord, wash my heart and mind with
Your Holy Spirit so that I might be spiritually clean. Amen. |
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