Dirty Feet

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10

Wet grass all over my feet and sandals! How can I go inside the church like this? I’ll track this mess everywhere. I had walked up with a friend from the Sunday School classes through freshly mown dew covered grass. Her shoes were a mess too. Actually she was the one who noticed our problem. One of the men saw our dilemma and brought us paper towels to clean our shoes and feet. It was embarrassing leaning against the building and wiping my feet but it was better than messing up the foyer and aisles.

Jesus took a towel and washed the feet of his disciples. Peter didn’t want his Lord to perform such a lowly task for him. Peter wanted to serve Jesus, not have Jesus serve him. What Peter didn’t understand was that Jesus was the greatest of servants. He not only served, He sacrificed himself for Peter and for us. Later in the same chapter Jesus tried to explain the symbolism of what he was doing. We walk through this world every day and pick up “dirt” from the world. Not the dust of the ground but the bad things of this world, the attitude, the language, the selfishness, etc. Jesus wants us spiritually clean. He washed the disciples’ feet as an example to serve our fellow Christians by watching out for each other and helping each other keep our lives clean.

In the days of the tabernacle, the priest had to wash at a laver before going into the tabernacle. They first passed by the burnt offering, then washed hands and feet before entering the tabernacle to offer the incense. The incense of prayers needed to be offered by spiritually clean priest. Priest still covered with blood and ashes from the burnt offering would not symbolize spiritual cleanness.

How often do I rush to God with my desires without stopping to ask for the cleansing of His forgiveness? I want my prayers to have a sweet savor to God.

Dear Lord, thank you for a friend who noticed the dirt on our feet. Help me Lord to notice the dirt on my heart. Create in me a clean heart; and renew a right spirit within me. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hearts

…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.  I Samuel 16:7

I thought surely Eric Carle had lost his mind. Here was a book titled Hello, Red Fox with a green fox on the cover, all written and illustrated by Eric Carle. When I turned to the first page I saw a giant red heart with a tiny black dot. There was a caption at the bottom labeled Important. I thought I should read it. The instructions said stare at the black dot and count to 10 then look at the black dot on the next page. Okay, so I tried it. A faint green image of the heart appeared on the opposite white page. Then the story of a little green frog’s birthday party began. Each animal invited was not the color it appeared if you took the time to stare 10 seconds at the black dot on the animal then, look at the opposite white page. I thought, this is really cool, Eric. Maybe you are on to something!

Life is a lot like Eric Carle’s story. We think we see people. They make a first impression. How often we look at people and make a judgment based on what they appear to be; happy, kind, sad, mean, tough, etc. without taking the time to look a little deeper. We don’t know the real person on first glance. Jesus took the time to see the real person. He had compassion on the people even when they were cruel and unloving. He healed the untouchable lepers. He  brought the message of salvation to the Samaritan woman. He healed the crippled hand on the Sabbath, though it was "against the law". Jesus put others first. He cared about people.

Father, help me to look at the heart as you do and not the outward appearance. Help me to demonstrate a caring, compassionate spirit. Lord, show me how to make a difference in the hearts and lives of others. In Jesus name. Amen.