Cleansing Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. – John 7:14 I recently have taken up running. I’m past middle age and have been accumulating a spare tire around my waist. Something had to be done. I’m a novice runner but happy to say it didn’t take me long to see some progress in my endurance. I’ve gone from jogging just under a mile, to over a mile, then just under two miles, then over two miles, then three and a half miles and most recently I ran four miles! I don’t know where this will end. I’m enjoying the natural endorphins this ole’ body releases during my runs. Yes, the human body is fearfully and wonderfully made. And I combine spiritual edification by praying and listening to audiobooks during the run. I’m enjoying a new season in my life. But running can get you into trouble. I’m not talking about what happens when you run with your head down and plow into a tree or oncoming traffic. I’m also not talking about allowing exercise to become an obsession to the neglect of the loved ones and eternally important things in life. No, I’m talking about trouble that comes by where you run. I was recently at our church Summer Family Retreat in Pennsylvania. I wanted to keep the regimen of my running in place. So I went for a run. There was a large open grassy field that caught my eye. So I set my phone AP that measures my distance and speed while running and took off. It was a beautiful sunny and hot day. It felt good to breath deep and sweat. It was a real blessing to run in the scenic country side. What a blessing; until I got back to my room. Then when I looked down I was covered in grass and dirt. I forgot that the day before the field had been freshly mowed. I was covered and I had tracked the dirt all the way into our room. What a mess. It didn’t go over too well with my bride either. I needed a thorough cleaning. So did the room. But it was nothing a good hot cleansing shower for me, a tumble of my dirty clothes in the washing machine on the “super clean” cycle, and some vacuuming couldn’t cure. That’s an object lesson in life. We travel through the fields and streets of life and along the way unbeknownst to us we pick up and accumulate dirt and filth. The dirt could be sinful attitudes, off color humor, or immoral images. It could be residual sin-dirt that comes from giving into temptations like being less than honest, greedy, flirting, or more serious immoralities. It could be accumulated anger or condescending pride. The dirt we pick up from daily life is varied and easily accumulated. Before you know it we look at our heart and see all the particles of sin-stuff that need cleansing! If you’d like to know what we need to be cleansed from, why we should seek cleansing and how to be cleansed from the muck and mire of life, you can read the rest of this teaching at Pastor Claude’s blog site at theshepherdofhope.blogspot . Come to Jesus for His cleansing!
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 14:46:40 +0000
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