Day 18 — Clean Hands, Pure Heart

“Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.”

— Psalm 24:3–4 (BSB)

David asked a big question: “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place?” In other words, Who gets to come close to God?

And he answered: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

Clean hands means doing what’s right on the outside, in your actions. Not stealing, cheating, hurting others or doing things you know are wrong.

A pure heart means being right on the inside, in your thoughts, your motives and what you love. A pure heart is honest and sincere. It isn’t full of jealousy, bitterness or things that pull you away from God.

Purity is a word you might hear more as you grow up. It means being clean and undivided: loving God with your whole heart, and keeping your mind, your words, your eyes and your body in a way that honors Him.

For a girl your age, purity might look like:

• Choosing what you watch and listen to carefully.
• Keeping your words clean, not using bad language or cruel jokes.
• Respecting your body and treating it as a gift from God.
• Not rushing into romance, like we talked about on Day 14.
• Being honest, even when no one would know.
• Loving God more than anything else, not letting anything else become an “idol.”

Here’s the good news: none of us has perfectly clean hands or a perfectly pure heart. We all mess up. But Jesus came to make us clean. When we confess our sins, He forgives us and washes us. And His Spirit helps us grow in purity day by day.

Purity isn’t about following a list of rules to prove you’re good. It’s about staying close to God, because He’s the best thing there is.

A true story: In Book 1, you met Gladys Aylward, the maid who wasn’t “enough” for the mission society. Here’s a part of her story you might not know. After the mission society turned her down, Gladys went to work as a maid in a big house. On her first night there, alone in her little room, she laid her Bible and her few coins on the bed, and she told God that all of it, and all of her, was His to use. She didn’t hold anything back. That undivided heart carried her all the way to China, on the cheapest, longest train ride across Europe and Asia she could find. You can read her whole story in Brave for God.

Think about it: What’s one area where you’d like to have “cleaner hands” or a “purer heart”?

Try this: Ask God to show you one thing in your life that pulls your heart away from Him. Then choose one step to put Him first again.

Dear God, I want to come close to You. Give me clean hands and a pure heart. Forgive me for the ways I’ve fallen short, and wash me clean. Help me love You more than anything else. In Jesus’ name, Amen.