(For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the tradition of the elders; (Mark 7:3)
And He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight,
and listen to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of
the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.” (Exodus 15:26)
The Pharisees were
careful folks, and really, they may not deserve the bad reputation we’ve given
them. Yes, I know, Jesus called them hypocrites, and they were, but probably not
all of them, and if asked, they probably would have justified themselves with
verses like Exodus 15:26 and others that promised curses on the whole of Israel
if any sin were found therein.
I’ve little doubt that they would sound rather
like so many sounded when COVID first struck in the US. “Stay home! Wear a mask
(and gloves at first and later, wash or sanitize your hands every 20 minutes)!
Shut up or we’re all gonna die!” I even read statements made by some people
that when they got home from grocery shopping, they washed everything they brought
home and took a shower and changed their clothes and washed them. But how many of us adopted a healthier diet? Exercised?
Lost weight? Got their sugar levels under control? How many gave up smoking or
drinking, or doing other things that increased the likelihood that if they
caught the disease, it would kill them? It seems to me that more people spent
more time commanding the good behavior of others than they did of themselves.
They were just as afraid as the Pharisees.
But with December’s focus being on consciousness,
today’s first passage is a good warning. Yes, we need to pay attention, but let’s
make sure our awareness is of the right things and for the right reasons.
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