Wash Up!

I remember getting called for supper at home as a kid – we were told to “wash up”. I didn’t further instructions because I knew if I wanted food to eat, I must wash my hands. I still follow that routine many years later. I wash my hands before each meal. I’m probably don’t have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) but I do think it’s important to wash my hands before eating.

In the medical world hand washing is paramount to the health and safety of all involved. Health care professionals often wash their hands when they enter the room and after treatment before they leave the room. I know that when surgeons and nurses are preparing for surgery, washing the hands in a consistent fashion is important because germs that can cause disease can be spread if it’s on the hands of the surgeon. They are trying to create as sterile environment where no outside germs get in – or at least keep those risks to a minimum.

I’ve been tracking the God’s chosen people as they left Egypt miraculously through the Red Sea. They are at Mt. Sinai and getting multiple instructions about how they will worship, and function as a society of people going forward. The Lord gives them specific instructions regarding worship, sacrifice and life behavior. I came across the instructions to build a special wash basin – check this out….

¹⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there. ²⁰ They must wash with water whenever they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord and when they approach the altar to burn up their special gifts to the Lord—or they will die! ²¹ They must always wash their hands and feet, or they will die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants, to be observed from generation to generation.” (Exodus 30:17-21 NLT)

I have already washed my hands this morning as a part of regular daily hygiene – I will wash them many times before today is done. I will not wash for ceremony – although I can. I will wash to keep my hands cleaned back up from what they touch. I may have to pump fuel for my truck – wash up. I may have to feed the dog – wash up. I may have to go to the bathroom – wash up.

I need to be aware of the things my hands touch in order to keep my hands clean. Washing thoroughly and often can minimize my chances of getting germs that are everywhere. I also use hand sanitizer – which is an alcohol-based solution used to keep hands clean – sometimes preferred to hand washing in certain situations. The hand sanitizer can be helpful between traditional soap and water hand washes.

Hand washing was important to the Lord more for ceremony and reminder than hygiene. I am reminded that my hands do touch things every day that may not be sanitary. One of my kids will wash their hands after ordering from a menu in a restaurant. (I will sometimes use hand sanitizer now after ordering.) When we use a hand towel, I think that there might just be more germs on my hands after washing than before!

I want the washing of my hands today to remind me to wash my heart often as well. I can do this with prayer and confession before the Lord. I have some gratitude routines that I take myself through to help keep my heart clean much like a hand washing routine.

Pressing On!

Dwayne