Walk-on Wednesday - Clean Outside and In - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Walk-on Wednesday. By Hump Day, we are struggling, but we believe a good devotion can strengthen us to finish the week strong. 

The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger. Job 17:9 NLT

As a young boy, I wanted clean hands.

This trait was passed down to at least one of my grandsons. When he first attempted to eat with a fork and spoon, his awkwardness often took over, and he resorted to using his hands to retrieve what he couldn’t stab or scoop. Inevitably, this led to dirty hands. When he noticed the food clinging to his small fingers, a frown crept across his face, followed by an extended hand and a cry for help. Either my wife or I quickly came to the rescue. He wanted clean hands.

Job knew a great deal about clean hands, but his fair-weather friends didn’t. Job was the unfortunate recipient of Satan’s assaults with God’s permission. Instead of consoling him, his friends bombarded him with accusations. Evidently, he had sinned. His wife tired of the entire situation and encouraged him to curse God, die, and get it over with. Job, however, maintained that he had a clean spiritual heart and hands. He was not concealing sin or ignoring God.

Thoughts produce feelings, which in turn carry the power to evoke actions. Allowing God to control our hearts (thoughts and feelings) is the only way to assure our actions reflect association with him. Simply cleaning up the outside won’t change the inside.

Jesus repeatedly warned the religious leaders about only looking good on the outside. A whitewashed tomb still contains deteriorated bones. If we only clean up the outside—turn over a new leaf, without letting God transform our insides—our hands will continue to get dirty again. Much better is letting God renovate the inside first. Then the outside will remain clean because the inside is.

What on your inside needs washing?

Father, help our clean hands reflect our clean hearts.

Tweetable: Are you clean inside and out? 

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