An Excerpt From The Manuscript I'm Working On

If you think you’re still rotten to the core, how are you going to ever be able to believe that God is going to show you the plan He has in mind for you? No, you aren’t dirty anymore. Just because you still get dirt on you doesn’t mean it is in you.

A good illustration of this fact is an incident that happened with Jesus and His disciples when they were in the upper room together. It’s the scene where Jesus was about to wash the feet of His disciples. Peter protested that Jesus would assume such a lowly position of servanthood and said to Him, “There is no way I’m going to let you wash my feet!” Jesus answered Him by saying, “You will if you want to be involved in the plan I have in mind.” Peter blurted back to Jesus, “Then go for it! Wash me from head to toe! I’m in!”

The response from Jesus to Peter is interesting. He said to him: "If you've had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you're clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you're clean." (John 13:10, The Message).

The point He was making was that Peter wasn’t a dirty person. He simply had dirt on him at that moment that needed to be wiped off. There is a big difference between the two. Do you see it? Just because you sometimes get dirt (sinful thoughts, feelings, or even actions) on you doesn’t mean that you’ve morphed into a dirty person.

One time many years ago, our family came out of the house to go to church on a Sunday morning. As I turned to close the door, our small dog bolted out of the house and across the yard. We were late leaving for church and I didn’t think I had the time for this kind of scenario.

Impatiently, I took off running across the yard calling our dog that was on mission to escape me. As I chased him down a gentle slope my foot hit a slippery spot on the grass, still covered with morning dew. Down I went. Not just to the ground, but also down the hill . . . all the way down the hill the rolling reverend went. By the time I reached the bottom, I had mud and grass stains all over my clothes.

When I stood up I came to an instant realization of four things of which I was absolutely certain: 1. I wanted that dog to die. Now. 2. My family, laughing hysterically, didn’t understand one iota about Christian compassion. 3. I could say the word I heard coming out of my mouth with no fear that my mother was around to punish me for saying it. 4. I looked filthy dirty.

The immediate challenge at that moment was number four. I had dirt all over me and I had needed to leave for church ten minutes earlier. I’m not a dirty person by nature, but I was covered in dirt at that moment – in more ways than one. What I needed was immediate personal hygiene, to get the dirt off of me and move on toward the plan already in place for my morning.

In the same way, I encourage you not to think of yourself as a dirty person who can’t be used by God. We all blow it at times, but that doesn’t change the fact that, at the core of your being, you are clean because of what Christ has done for you. Maybe you need your feet to be washed off right now because you’ve been walking in the dirt. Maybe you’ve even rolled down the hill. No big deal. Just change clothes (see Romans 13:14) and move on toward the plan God has in place for you.

I’m not minimizing the seriousness of sin here. Nobody enjoys the aftereffect of a roll in the dirt. The point I’m making is that you don’t have to let it wreck your life by believing that you’re a bad person who God can’t use. Your heart isn’t wicked. You’ve been made clean so don’t think otherwise.