Getting ready for bed last night, I looked up and smiled. The plaque hanging in my bathroom still makes me chuckle—even though, for modern-day wranglers, it probably isn't entirely true.
"Real cowboys don't take baths—they just dust off."
I don't remember where along life's trail my late husband and I found it, but it remains the perfect bit of cowboy décor for a Montana home.
It also got me thinking.
In Matthew 23:25–28, Jesus criticized the Pharisees for appearing clean on the outside while remaining unclean within. They had become experts at outward appearances, carefully following traditions and religious rules while neglecting the condition of their hearts.
In a word: hypocrisy.
Would Jesus say anything different to us today? I don't think so.
It's easy to focus on looking good to others while ignoring the things God sees beneath the surface. We can dust ourselves off, straighten up, put on a smile, and convince everyone we're fine. But God isn't interested in simply cleaning up our outward appearance. He wants to transform us from the inside out.
American singer and songwriter Shawn McDonald understands something about that kind of transformation.
After a difficult and rebellious childhood, drugs and trouble with the law, he wanted to get his life in order. One day, he picked up a Bible his grandmother had given him. As he read, something stirred within him. Relating the "demons" in his life to his drugs, he made the decision to get rid of them and turn his life around.
Eventually, Shawn began writing songs about his faith.
Today's song, "Wash Me Clean," speaks to all of us. It may stir the heart of someone battling addiction, but its message is also for the religious person, the struggling person, the weary person—and yes, even a dusty ol' cowboy.
"Awaken me from my sleep and open up my weary eyes. Won't You take this heart and mind; help me to believe. It's in the water that brings life to my soul. It's in the blood that washes me clean. It washes me clean."
First Corinthians 6:11 reminds us: "But you were washed clean. You were made holy, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
And David prayed in Psalm 51:7: "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."
Throughout Scripture, hyssop, blood, cleansing, and forgiveness are closely connected. David knew he needed more than an outward dusting. He needed his heart cleansed. And so do we.
The blood of Jesus is our hope of forgiveness and cleansing. When we come to Him honestly, confessing our sins and surrendering our hearts, He does what no amount of outward polishing can ever accomplish. He makes us clean.
I love Peter's response when Jesus began washing his feet: "Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"
Perhaps that's our prayer today, too. "Lord, don't let me simply dust myself off and pretend everything is fine. Wash my heart. Cleanse my thoughts. Forgive my sin. Make me new from the inside out. Amen."
And forgive my humor, but I think we'd all agree...God's cleansing is a whole lot better than a cowboy who just dusts off.
