Feb
8
2013
Bubble Gloves
Posted in Repentance, Salvation Leave a comment
My youngest daughter is home sick today with a fever.
A dear friend checked in with me to see if there was anything I needed at the store.
It was so sweet of her…but I had already gone food shopping…while my daughter slept.
I remember the days when I couldn’t do that.
Days when my children were too young to be left alone.
I was never a big temperature taker when they had a fever.
A mother knows when her child is sick.
Their eyes don’t dance!
Since the flu is going around, the best thing that she could do was rest.
When my friend checked in, she told me that this fever is going around school.
Her admonition: Tell everyone to keep washing their hands!
I thought back to when the children were little.
I taught them how to wash their hands properly…more frequently during flu season.
I used to hear that children should wash their hands to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star…in order to make sure they washed long enough.
I was never a big fan of that idea.
For some reason, I came up with the idea of having the children make “bubble gloves”.
They had to lather long enough to actually make soapy gloves to cover their hands.
They loved doing this!
Of course, my girls would make elegant gloves, up to their elbows.
In order to do it right…to really cover their hands…they had to wash longer than usual.
It was a perfect thing to do when they were sick.
Water play was always a popular thing to do in our house.
Whether it was in the bathtub, or washing dishes in the sink, there was something they loved about having their hands in warm, soapy water.
It was a good way to teach them how to wash dishes, too!
On a warm day, the most wonderful thing to do was to have water play on the deck.
Toys that would float, dolls that needed a bath, tea that must be poured.
Their imaginations took them everywhere…with a basin and some water.
Children are creative…they can turn almost anything into a toy.
Chairs and blankets become forts.
Refrigerator boxes become houses.
Dress up clothes become a way to transport themselves to another time…another place.
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciple’s feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, “Lord are You going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. “No,” said Peter, “You shall never wash my feet.” 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 a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. For He knew who was going to betray Him, and that was why He said not every one was clean. (John 13:3-11)
Washing His disciple’s feet was not water play.
Jesus, the Servant Lord, came not to be served…but to serve.
Jesus’ disciples continuously argued over who was the greatest.
Jesus showed them, through His humility and servitude, what true greatness really is.
If we are in Christ, we have had a bath!
When we believe that Jesus died on the cross…in our place…and rose again…trusting in Him alone for our salvation…we have been washed clean by His precious blood.
God is holy and cannot look at sin; God is angry against sin because sin is rebellion.
Jesus, our sinless Savior, was the perfect sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of a holy God.
As believers, when God the Father looks at us, He doesn’t see the dirt of our sin.
As believers, when God the Father looks at us, He sees His Son’s perfect righteousness.
We are clean!
Even though we are saved by grace, trusting in Jesus alone for our salvation…we still sin.
That is why Jesus told Peter that he needs only to wash his feet.
We acknowledge our sin; we must repent of our sin.
We come to God the Father…already bathed…already clean…but with dirty feet.
When we confess our sins to God each day, it is like we are washing the dirt off our feet.
Jesus is waiting with the basin and the towel.
No water play…but saving grace.
No bubble gloves…but covered in His Righteousness.
There is something we love about warm water…
Totally clean.
Totally forgiven.
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