Cleansed part 4
I once knew a guy who claimed (jokingly) that he took a bath every Saturday... whether he needed it or not. And it seems like that's how we look at cleansing ourselves. We go up to an altar call... whether we need it or not. We go through these rituals... whethere we need to or not. Or, on the other hand, we think we constantly need to be cleansed--like "confession" in the Catholic faith. But let me answer the question, "what about my future sins? Don't I need to take care of those too?" like this: When Jesus died on the cross and took away the sin of the world ALL of your sins were in your future. And let me add this, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). The sin issue is really a dead issue. Its been taken care of. Handled. But for today let me share a story from John chapter 13. Jesus was fixing to wash His disciples' feet. Then this happened, "Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all" (John 13:8-10). The one not clean, of course, was the traitor Judas. But what I want to pick out of there is that he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet. Once you're clean, you're clean. And the foot washing, I believe, refers to Psalm 119:101, "I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word." Walking in newness of life, and not getting your feet dirty. And I'm not saying you should use your feet to necessarily avoid people--sometimes you should, absolutely--I'm saying that you can walk on water and not drown... if you keep your eyes on the Lord. If you're walking on the Word of the Lord (which, as always, Is Jesus... love). If you're walking by faith and not by sight. If you know that all things are under your feet... because you see Jesus, and you see all things under HIS feet. I think, even more than cleaning the disciples' feet, Jesus was imparting something to them. He was empowering them to walk and not be weary. If you're clean, you're clean. That doesn't go away. Those born of God CANNOT sin, so why are we so fixated on sin? We should be focused on life. Not on following in Jesus' foot steps, but in letting HIM make His own foot steps in OUR feet. Jesus hung out with sinners, right? He didn't care where His feet went, because His feet were Holy. And whever His holiness went... well... let me say it this way: When the light shines, darkness flees. When holiness shows up, nothing else can stand. When God arises, His enemies (the lie that says you have to do in order to be, which is also unbelief, which is sin) scatter. So stop trying to recleanse yourself. Trust the cross. Trust the finished work. Keep your feet clean, in a sense, by keeping His Word. The Word, one more time, that is love. If you're walking in love, it doesn't matter where you end up. You'll be right where you need to be!