Clean Heart and Hands

“Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? or who may stand in His holy place?” Psalm 24:3

Yes who? It seems as if our country and even our Church are filled with people who do not know right from wrong! The answer follows: “He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.” I’m sure that discounts me! It discounts Saint Paul as well, who claimed in yesterday’s reading from Romans 7, “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” Paul realized his sinfulness and his need for Jesus. 

When we realize our sinfulness, we see that our wisdom is foolishness in God’s eyes and become aware of our pressing need for Him. We can depend on God to redeem us just as He did Paul. He did not forsake Paul even when he was pursuing His followers, and putting them in chains to punish them. He did not give up on Paul even as Paul watched happily while the first martyr of Christianity, Saint Stephen, got stoned until he died. We too can take courage that God will use us even in our frailty, make our hearts new, and cleanse our dirty hands. Let us always take the time to connect with the only One who can do the impossible and bring us into His holy place.