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Day 37, or February the 6th.

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Cleanliness is next to godliness.

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Our thoughts today are rooted in Leviticus chapter 14 verse 8.

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The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off their hair, and bathe with

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water.

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Then they will be ceremonially clean.

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After this, they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven

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days.

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First the big picture surrounding this verse.

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Today's reflection comes from a rather intimate passage.

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It talks about bodily examinations and the cleansing of people with their clothing and

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homes.

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At first sight it may seem strange that God is interested in such apparent trivial things.

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But God is interested in every part of us.

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Jesus said, The very hairs on your head are all numbered.

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Matthew 10 verse 30.

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I'm sure you have heard it said that cleanliness is next to godliness.

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This part of Leviticus could easily have inspired this saying, which is first accredited to

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Rabbi Phineas Ben-Yair, who is thought to have used it in the second century.

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And now our action step for today.

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I recently heard an elderly gentleman say to a pharmacist, I'm sorry to bother you,

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but I didn't want to take up valuable time by asking my doctor.

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We often treat God like that, not wanting to waste his time with trivia.

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We demote God to, for emergencies only, break the glass only when absolutely essential.

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There's a reminder of this in that lovely old German hymn translated in the 19th century

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by Catherine Winkworth, Now Thank We All Our God.

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It includes this line, And guide us when perplexed.

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In other words, only when I can't figure it out by myself.

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To be fair, it may not be what was meant, but that's how I read it every time, and

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so will you after hearing this.

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Sorry.

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Leviticus reminds us that we need to be cleansed when we come before a holy God.

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God is interested in the most intimate and seemingly insignificant things in our lives

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when they mar our purity.

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Nothing's too small for cleansing if it's a barrier between you and God.