Hand Over Hand

Hand over Hand

[Jesus said,] “You are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy.”

Matthew 23:25

The story is told that when the great orator Daniel Webster was a boy, he was not noted for tidiness. His teachers were constantly after him to straighten up his desk, tuck in his shirt, wash his face and hands, and attend to other personal hygiene tasks. Daniel, however, was not the least bit concerned about these mundane things, so the teachers’ admonishments often went unheeded.

One day the teacher told him that if he appeared again with such dirty hands she would thrash him. Although Daniel had a momentary look of repentance, he did, indeed, appear in the same condition again the next day.

“Daniel,” said the teacher, “hold out your hand.”

Daniel spit on his hand, rubbed it on his pants, and held it out. As usual, it was filthy.

“Daniel,” the teacher said, “if you can find me another hand in this school that is dirtier than that one, I will let you off.”

Grinning, Daniel promptly held out his other hand.

When Jesus faced the Pharisees, he did not see dirty hands and faces. He saw dirty hearts. And he did not hold back from telling them so: “You are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity” (Matthew 23:27).

Little boys are hardly concerned about dirty hands and faces, but often their hearts are clean as they bring Mom a bouquet of fresh-picked flowers from the garden.

Religious “children,” however, are concerned about looking clean while hiding the impurity in their hearts. Dirty hearts win the unacceptable award over dirty hands every time.

Purify my heart, Lord, and make me clean in your sight. Amen.