Tuesday February 9th: Forget Clean Hands and Tradition

“Maybe it’s time to stop dwelling so much on ‘clean hands’ and beg God for a clean heart.”

Mark 7:1-13

Have you ever seen the musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof’? In it, the lead character sings loudly, Tradition…Tradition! Then he goes on to explain that “Because of our traditions, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” Hmmm…
Traditions are not necessarily bad. Our rituals can be good guidelines for keeping our bearings on our faith journey. However, when keeping man-made rules become more important than following the commandments of God, therein lies the danger. Because Jesus’ disciples did not observe the ceremonial cleansing, the Pharisees judged them as being less than holy before God and therefore unworthy. How presumptuous!
In our days, the mantra is stay safe and sanitize, so forgoing the cleaning of our hands is practically criminal. This evolving tradition is meant to help keep us safe in this pandemic. In matters of faith, maybe it’s time to stop dwelling so much on ‘clean hands’ and beg God for a clean heart, a heart that loves as He loves.