With that being said it got me thinking about how many times we have washed our hands with and for God, how often we are diligently opening our selves to his cleansing water and calming lather.
If I was to look down at my hand, currently they are dry, cracked and have small cuts. I can even see my skin pattern more pronounced around the loose skin. They cry out neverending for cream, salve or rescue from their condition. Compared to the rest of my body, my hands carry the most visible damage from washing as much as possible.
Like my hand my soul is also dry, cracked and it cries out for help to wash the damage from life away.
"These people draw near to me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship Me. Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15: 8-9 - New King James version)
Each time I pick up the daily grind of life, I already can feel the soap of hurt, anger, resentment, loneliness, fear, hate, sadness, sinful and so many more emotions and guilt. As I put that daily soap into my hand and it lathers all day with the waters of life, my emotions and each person I come in contact with all have a factor into that lather that is compiling all day long.
"A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones." (Proverbs 14:30)
"A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones." (Proverbs 17:22 - New King James Version)
I return home with a crack, dry and scared soul from the all-day lather. Instead of washing them with the word of God, I decide to use the same soap from yesterday, carrying the burden further into my evening and tomorrow.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess." (Matthew 23:25 - King James Version)
As I rinse with the water of life from the day's lather, On the outside my soul looks clean. However, under the surface, it is still cracked, dry and the cuts are deeper and they are all waiting to add tomorrow's lather and grow off it so that each day will feed off the previous one. Thus the cycle continues as each day we are not cleaning our burdens and hurt and washing them away to God.
Instead, God asks us to wash with him and work together as a team to be clean and saved in his arms, which is always open and waiting for us to pick up his holy soap and wash in his cleaning water.
"I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O LORD, That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous work." (Psalm 26: 6-7 - New King James Version)
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 - English Standard Version)
