Makin' a Mess

8/18/2008

Still no rain here in Critter Patch. Everything is terribly dry. It's so amazing the difference water can make, isn't it?

last Friday I got up at 5:00am to water the garden. I used a hand held sprinkler to water the squash and peppers and then put the soaker hose on the tomatoes and went in the house to do some canning. later when I went out to move the soaker hose I found that it had really done the job well. I stepped a bit too close to the saturated ground and sunk up in mud past my ankles. What a lovely feeling, that! I extracted my self carefully trying not to loose my sandals in the muck. Have you ever tried to walk in sandals covered with mud? The mud was between my feet and shoe causing an effect closely akin to walking on Ice. I must have been a funny sight as I slipped and slid my way to the faucet. I turned the hose on my shoes and got the worst of it off then went back to the garden to place the soaker hose around the next desert like row of withered plants. Now I was walking in powder dry dirt with wet feet. I wouldn't recommend this either, it's uncomfortable to say the least. Finally, my task accomplished I hurried back to the house with the intent of cleaning for the weekend. The day was quickly getting away from me and I flew from one chore to the next without stopping to catch my breath. I think my extremities were moving faster than my brain, something I realized too late! I decided to mop my floors and after sweeping up clods of dried mud I remembered that my sandals were well coated in the stuff, so I slipped them off and proceeded to mop the floors in my bare feet. Here is where my brain had stopped working, but I didn't notice until the whole floor was mopped and I stood up straight to survey the good job I'd done. I blinked, refocused then hung my head in unbelief at my own stupidity. What I saw were perfectly formed muddy footprints all over my floor. It now looked worse than it did before I started. I had failed to consider that I was wearing sandals, which allowed the dirt to dry on the soles of my feet as well as the shoes. Of course I had to completely re-mop the floor after cleansing my feet in the tub.

This experience made me think of my own character. After I've been submersed in the muck of sin, I can look into the mirror of God's law and see that I'm dirty, that I need to clean up. God's law, like the mirror, doesn't provide cleansing, it merely, makes me aware of the problem. I now have several choices. I can decide to ignore the dirt and go on, which ends up causing a much bigger mess. Or, I can choose to clean up, a much better choice. However, here I've often met with trouble. My human efforts to clean up often leave me still soiled even though I fail to realize it until I've made a bigger mess. God tells us that Our "ways are not His ways", for as high as the heavens are above the earth, His ways are higher, than our ways. (Isaiah 55:8,9) No matter how hard I try I can not, by my own efforts alone, make my self clean. God has promised a solution to my problem. He has promised to create a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10) He will cleanse me from sin ( Psalms 51:2) by His own blood which He shed. He will wash me and make me "whiter than snow" (Psalms 51:7) The process of clean up has several steps. It's not as simple as removing the obvious outward dirt, like taking off my shoes, although that is important, there must also be a sole/soul cleansing that takes place, which only God can do. My part is to come to God in repentance, asking His forgiveness, to place my will on the side of His will, turn my feet my from evil and seek to do good all the while completely relying on Him to cleanse me and give me the strength to do what He asks of me. We are counseled that we must have both faith and works together to be transformed. Faith without works is dead, but work without faith in the cleansing blood of Christ is pointless. (James 2:26)

May God bless each of you my friends, and may we all rely on Him to pour into our lives the cleansing water that we need to flourish and grow into His likeness.

Bonnie Morsette ~ 8/18/08