Dirty Feet

I had another “Oh, so THAT’S what He meant” moment today. (I really love those moments when they come, by the way. It’s like you get a glimpse into the mind of the Master—what a treat!) We had a long rainstorm this morning. It started out as a thunderstorm for an hour or two, and then switched over to a slow, steady rain for another 4 hours. It was cool and quiet and lazy, and I think everyone in Arua enjoyed the chance to sleep in.

Once the rain finally stopped, Kelli and I took our 7-year-old neighbor to lunch at the coffee shop in town. (Yes, we have a grand total of one coffee shop!) I was almost out of shillings, so I made a detour by the ATM while Kelli and Joanna went ahead and ordered. To get to the ATM, I had to walk around the corner, which had changed from a dirt lot into a mud pit after the morning’s rain.

As I walked through the muddy corner for the second time on the way back to the coffee shop, it dawned on me just how nasty my feet had gotten in all of 5 minutes. I was still clean, not dirty, not sweaty, I hadn’t even spilled anything on myself yet. (That came later in the day!) But my feet were in serious need of a soak!

At the beginning of Jesus’ last Passover meal, He washed His disciples’ feet. Peter didn’t understand what He was doing. (I think I relate to Peter more than any of the disciples—he’s just real!) Anyway… Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” “Then Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean…” (John 13:8-10)

As a believer, I am clean. My sins have been washed away, and in Jesus’ eyes I will never look like I’ve been wallowing around in sin. He’s washed all that away; I’ve had my spiritual bath, and I am clean. But this world is, by nature, dirty. It is sinful. And because I’m in this world, living in it, walking around through the much and mud, my feet are going to get dirty. I’m going to sin, whether I mean to or not. As long as I’m left on this earth, my feet will, daily, get a coating of spiritual dust, dirt, and sometimes even mud. (And, if I’m being honest, there have been times when I was, spiritually speaking, standing knee-deep in a mud puddle and loving the feeling of mud between my toes… which is NOT okay!) But when I realize that my feet are dirty, I need to stop right then and there and ask Jesus to wash my feet again… before the grime gets so caked on it takes a rough scrubbing to get my little piggies clean again. As much attention as I pay to my physical feet (and oh, how I do love a good pedicure!), Jesus, please help me be more aware of just how clean (or dirty!) my spiritual feet have gotten.