The washed heart

“Why do I have to wash my hands all the time?” I asked my mother when I was a child. She knew about germs but I didn’t. The same thing was true for the Jews. In ancient times, Orthodox Jews lived longer than most anybody. They followed hand-washing rituals, though they knew nothing of microscopic monsters hiding in their environment.

Washing one’s heart is good spiritual hygiene. Evil is the germ that needs to get wiped away. Washing the heart is the spiritual equivalent of washing the hands. Two things are essential. First, you must have a strong cleansing agent. Spiritually, that’s the blood of Christ, which is salvation. Second, you’ve got to have “water,” and that’s the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26). 

Receiving Christ and being immersed in His Word produces a washed, “germ-free” heart.

TODAY’S FOCUS
Thank the Holy Spirit for inspiring, preserving and interpreting the “washing agent” which is the Word of God.