Hearts Approaching the Altar (Day 4)

Day 4: Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

First of all I need to apologize for not posting yesterday. It was a very crazy day for me being that we were heading out of town. Our plane arrived in Dallas at 10:00 pm, so that is the reason I didn't post once I got here. My deepest apologies!

We bow our hearts. We bend our knees. O Spirit come make us humble. We turn our eyes, from evil things. O Lord we cast down our idols.

Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another.
Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another.

O God let us be a generation that seeks, seeks your face. O God of Jacob, O God of Jacob

This very song kept popping into my heard as I read today’s study. And this is one of my favorite songs! We learned about the importance of the bronze basin, but not just about it’s purpose, but also about its very strategic place between the altar and the tabernacle. The sacrifice had to be made first to forgive of the sins that were made, and then the water in the basin was used to cleanse them.

I did find it very interesting that the basin was made from mirrors and that upon cleansing the priests had to stand before it with their own reflection looking back at them. Beth statement is so very true. “The purpose is clear: before we can truly come before God for cleansing, we must examine ourselves to discover how we have erred” There are times that I’m so disappointed or frustrated with myself that I can’t even stand before a mirror myself – let alone think of standing before God.

“If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1 John 1: 8-10

“Asking God to forgive us for a sin we are not yet sorry we committed is a waste of time.” I feel that it’s always important to ask for forgiveness no matter what the sin. There are times where I have sinned and asked for forgiveness and told myself and God that I would never do it again, and then for some odd reason I did do it again – but not purposely. I feel that asking for forgiveness the first time is just as important as the second, and in some cases the third. In these times I did have remorse and felt guilty about doing them, and I did pray that God would give me the strength to defeat temptation the next time. I think in Beth’s statement she was referring to someone who shows no pity in repeating the same sin over and over again, and continues doing it knowing that God will forgive. When we come to Jesus Christ he forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. How do you all feel about what Beth said?

How would you react to God getting on his knees to clean your feet? I think that I would have reacted as Peter did. It should be me washing his feet not the other way around. In John 13:14 Jesus’ commands us to go out and wash one another’s feet. In doing this we enable them to walk with him. Here are seven reasons why we have difficulty following Jesus’ command on this issue:

1. We lack the assurance of who we are.
2. We have a fear of leaving our comfort zones.
3. We are not willing to be vulnerable.
4. Our pitchers are empty, and we fail to be refilled.
5. We just don’t like feet.
6. We have to get on our knees.
7. We flat out refuse to allow God to wash our feet.

Recall a time when your “pitcher” was empty. How did you feel when others asked you for something during this period of time? How was your pitcher finally refilled?