Thus all mankind is in the same boat. All fall short of God’s standard, be it in thought, word and even deed.
Is it not interesting to note in this context that every religion follows ritual practices, which signify cleansing? They are essentially no more than symbolic tokens and obviously do not really affect anything by themselves. While we may clean our bodies by such rituals on the outside, we are well aware that water can never wash away sin and by that create a clean heart!
Jesus once made a very remarkable statement when confronted about the ritual washing of hands before meals:
“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’” (Matthew 15:17-20).
Rituals are really no more than a reminder of our need for purification – because we know that we are impure.
After having committed a particularly ugly sin, David expressed his longing beautifully in one of his Psalms:
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