Cleanliness....Is It Next To Godliness?

Today's bible reading really caught my attention. The reason being is I have seen people who are guilty of both parties of what goes on in this chapter. I must say that I have even been guilty of thinking "How gross!" After reading todays WORD, I have a new outlook on this whole aspect.

Matthew 15: "Some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat?" Question - How many times have we looked upon people with disgust because we watched them eating with dirty hands and/or they were dressed beneath our standards, dirty and smelly? Think about it.......passing judgment on them?

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

Let me say right here, that many times I have seen people get offended over the preached Word of God. Over what thus, is Written in the Book of Life. They got offended when Jesus spoke, and there are those who still get offended today when the preacher speaks. Why? Because it reveals who they really are, and what they are really doing. The WORD gets down to where they are living and they don't like it.

He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"

Hmmmmm..........I think it's time we clean up our OWN hearts and our OWN speech before we pass judgment on the one's with dirty, smelly clothing and unwashed hands.

Remember Matthew 15:20 the next time you sneer at someone eating with unwashed hands. Someone you consider beneath you. Stop and check your heart real close.....you just might have a few things that needs cleaning out yourself.

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'

So back to the title...Cleanliness.....Is It Next To Godliness? When it comes to our heart I say yes!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10