By: Lyndsay Crews
My children like to play outside. At this point, it looks like we’re headed more towards the marching band and are less likely to play in the NFL, but that’s just us. While playing outside, my children have an ability to find the one and only puddle left from last week’s rain and splash in it. They are instantly muddy and often times also smell like a post workout athlete. I’ll reach for the baby wipes to cover up the smell and wipe up the mud, but I’m unsuccessful. The only method to really get rid of the outside stench and dirt is a shower because sometimes there just aren’t enough baby wipes.
Sometimes our actions to ‘clean up’ our behavior or fix ourselves is like trying to clean up filthy kids using only a baby wipe. The dirt never really leaves our body, and we still have the stench. Maybe we talked harshly to our husbands, lost it with our kids, or (insert whatever part of yourself you wish wasn’t there), but then we tried to fix ourselves with a ‘I’ll never do that again’ inner pep talk or a hollow promise to do better. There are things we can’t fix on our own with a metaphorical baby wipe; at some point we will need a refreshing shower that only comes from God, through repentance.
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” – Acts 3:19
We all mess up and are in need a spiritual shower. But be encouraged because God is ready and willing to give it to us. Tell the Lord you’re sorry and then turn to the Lord so that you can experience a refreshing soul shower that only He can give.