Dirty Feet and Clean Souls

     


"Wash your feet before you get into bed."

If your childhood was anything like mine, you heard these words many times. We didn't get baths every night. And in the summertime when we swam and played in the sprinkler right up until sunset, I suppose my grandmother, then my mother, may have thought our little bodies were good enough. Now, mind you, that was never on a Saturday, oh no. 

But as we readied for bed, a look at our feet would reveal dusty or often dirty little creatures. So onto the side of the bathtub we would sit, and we would lather up a washcloth and scrub the signs of the busy day off our little piggies. It was not an unusual event in our house.

I have resurrected the practice in my life as of late. Maybe I never really buried it, but since moving back to the south it has become more of a regular thing for me.

I am a barefoot kind of girl. I know, I know. It's not the best thing for a woman of 'a certain age' and all that. But it's hot down here in the summer, and socks and shoes make it hotter. The feel of the cool tile on my feet helps just a bit. And then I will slip out into the garage to the refrigerator for a LaCroix, or to grab something from the freezer. A quick trip to the mailbox, or to take something to the garbage. These little trips in and out of the house, barefoot, do some things to the bottom of my feet. 

I could, of course, slide my feet into my flip flops, if I only I could remember where I left them the last time I slipped my feet out of them. (Oh, there they are, under the table.) I only have about twelve pair, so I'm not sure why they are so hard to find. Nonetheless, barefoot I am, and barefoot I remain at the end of the day.

I prefer my showers, mostly, in the morning. So in the evening I will look at my feet and I will hear an echo of my mom or grandmother telling me to wash my feet. And with washcloth in hand, I will wipe the residue of my day off my feet before I slip them between my sheets. 


I don't do it because either of them have reminded me, but because I don't want the dirt from my garage, or driveway or yard in my bed. Yuk. Frankly, when I mop my floors it should spur me to put my flip flops on before I walk outside, but so far that hasn't happened. 

It reminds me of when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. It was just before his crucifixion. In those times, it was standard for people to wash their feet as roads were dirt and therefore dusty. Open toed sandals resulted in very dirty feet, and so it was customary to wash your feet at the end of the journey. Jesus got the bowl of water and towel and began to perform this very simple, humble duty for the disciples. We know the story, Peter rebelled against his Master doing such a thing. 

When Jesus simply said He must do so, then Peter said then not to wash just his feet, but also his hands and head. Jesus then said something that should  resonate with all of us. "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean."

We who are redeemed are completely clean. Jesus saw to that when He covered us in His blood and bought our salvation. But the visual of His washing the feet of the disciples, I think, was a picture of us needing to keep our feet clean of the debris and matter of the world we still live in. 

As we move about in our lives, as we go about our daily business of making a living, raising our children, and existing in a fallen world our feet can't help but get dirty. We will show signs of where we have been, what we have seen, what we have heard and what we have read.  And like the washing of our feet, we need to have a rinsing, a cleansing, to keep from bringing it in to a sacred place to stay.

We wash away the filth of the outdoors from our feet with soap and water; how do we wash away the filth of the world from our hearts, minds and souls? Ephesians 5:25, 26 tells us "...Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word."

The Word of God is the cleansing that our souls need. 

 As the dirt slowly attaches itself to my feet, I am completely unaware. It doesn't affect me at all and I feel nothing. It isn't until I decide to look at my feet that I see it. But upon washing my feet, I feel an welcome sense of clean. There is an immediate relief as I towel them off. When I crawl into bed having washed away the grime of the day from my feet, they feel refreshed. 

The same is true of the filth and grime of the world around us. It isn't until we are covered in the muck of it do we become aware of how much we have saturated ourselves in it. But the cool refreshing Water of His Word refreshes, cleans, and reclaims what is His.



Comments

  1. Interesting reading and something to think about

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts