Wash Your Hands✋️ From The Inside Out ✍️

If you go to a restaurant for lunch, expect it to be completely crowded, with no tables or chairs available. Before you can have your seat, you must wait for someone to finish their meal and leave. But what if the crew member cleaning the previously occupied tables is the same person who served you your ordered food (na halatang di na naghugas ng kamay)? What would your reaction be? Would you be glad or horrified?

I remember our trip to Hong Kong. In that country, they are not after cleanliness and sanitation. The forks and spoons we used at one of the restaurants were oily. Could it be that the utensils were not so clean because the dishwashers, to serve their large number of customers, were racing to finish their washing quickly? However, the customer's health should not be compromised, no matter what. So utensils must be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized. That is why, while eating at that time, I couldn't help but fret about our health. Bacteria are poised to attack our immune systems, I thought.

"Lutong ulam" from Carinderias is one of my favorites. However, when I see flies around the dish or within the glass food display, Im worried. When this happens, I prefer not to buy their prepared meals anymore. Others avoid eating and purchasing from carinderias for the same reason: sanitary concerns. 

We are very conscious of what we put in our mouths. We avoid anything dirty that contains germs or bacteria that could make us sick, so we cook our food at home instead of buying it anywhere to make sure that we eat a meal free of dirt and radicals. We also practice hygienic routines such as bathing daily, changing our clothes, brushing and flossing our teeth to remove even the tiniest food particles stuck between them, using lotions and sunscreens to protect our skin, and applying perfume or cologne to our bodies to impart scent. These we do daily for the love of tidiness. Our primary concern is our health and appearance. 

In Matthew 15:2, the Pharisees and scribes saw Jesus and His disciples eating without first washing their hands, and they made a huge issue out of it. 

Fact is, the dirts from our outer body is very simple to eliminate. A mechanic with oil on his face, hands, and body; a carpenter who has scraped various types of dirt from the ground and drainage for the house they're building; or a person who has been splattered with mud by a fast car. These stains can be readily cleaned with a bar of soap and water. Furthermore, God created us with a natural mechanism in our bodies for excreting waste from any food or drink we get into our mouths.

"What goes into the mouth does not defile a person, but what comes out of their mouth is what defiles them."-JESUS  (Matthew 15:11). Does this mean that eating with unclean hands is acceptable to Jesus?

Assume you had a delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner today, with a delectable appetizer and a nutritious dessert. You even washed your hands or practiced whole-body hygiene before dining. Then a child fell over your favorite crystal figurine in the house and broke it. Immediately, you felt muscle tension, an adrenaline rush, a rapid heartbeat, and quick breathing. As you move from your seat towards the child, your mire within is revealed, and your fury is on full display through your aggressive yelling, cussing, and cursing. 

So what Jesus is saying is that eating with unclean hands is not as bad as having a poor attitude that leads to harsh language because of a heart that's not right. We may appear clean on the outside, but if and when we are used to saying offensive and ugly things, our cleanliness is meaningless. Grime from within us is the toughest stain to remove because it is embedded deep within our hearts. So it's no surprise that even with the slightest prod, we erupt with foul words, exposing our filthy ideas, sighs, sentiments, and content. What's within of us bubbles to the surface, and it stinks! (Matthew 15:17–20)

Why is Jesus making such a big deal about washing one's hands before eating? Because our external cleanliness does match our inner selves and Jesus hates hypocrisy. See the scribes and Pharisees, who are aware of the visible filth but fail to recognize their dirtiest spot within: entitlement, pagmamalinis, or self-righteousness—spiritual illnesses we all have and ought to be purified. Admittedly, we are never totally clean, and we can never be completely clean, no matter how hard we try. "No one is righteous, not even one (Romans 3:9-18), and we all fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23)." As a result, Jesus came and shed His blood on the cross to wash you and me of our filthiness and make us able to stand before the Holy God. Without His sacred blood poured out for us, we are nothing more than filthy rags, guilty sinners condemned to the miry pit of endless fire. But...thanks to HIM☝️

For the truth...

❤️Through Jesus Christ, 

by His blood sacrificed 

we are cleansed and purified

So we can be with Him up on high❤️

...higit ang nagagawa ng dugo ni Cristo! Sa pamamagitan ng walang hanggang Espiritu, inialay niya sa Diyos ang Kanyang sarili bilang handog na walang kapintasan. Ang Kanyang dugo ang lumilinis sa ating mga budhi sa mga gawang walang kabuluhan upang tayo'y makapaglingkod sa Diyos na buháy. (Hebreo 9:14)

Magsilapit kayo sa Dios, at siya'y lalapit sa inyo. Mangaglinis kayo ng inyong mga kamay, kayong mga makasalanan; at dalisayin ninyo ang inyong mga puso, kayong mga may pabagu-bagong isip. (James 4:8)