{"id":34421,"date":"2022-10-16T03:30:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T10:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=34421"},"modified":"2022-10-12T15:56:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T22:56:46","slug":"october-16-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2022\/10\/16\/october-16-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"October 16, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Mud and Hoses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cWash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.\u201d<\/em> Isaiah 1:16<\/p>\n

I have a photograph of my little brother, age four, sitting waist-deep in a mud hole, grinning widely. Mom let us dig the hole behind the corner swingset in the back yard and fill it with water. She was one of those great moms that believe children should play as hard as they can, climb as high as they can, and get as dirty as they can, while they still can.<\/p>\n

My brother was all boy, and loved that mud. He would practically swim in it, wearing just his (formerly) white underpants. I dipped a toe in now and then, but I never got all the way in.<\/p>\n

There was no way to wipe him down when he was finished playing–he had to be hosed off. He\u2019d stand in the middle of the yard and mom would squirt him down until he was clean enough to come into the house and get into the bathtub for the real scrubbing. I, of course, only had to rinse that toe. I never had to submit to a bath mid-day.<\/p>\n

As we grew up, those early days turned out to be a metaphor for the lives we chose for ourselves. I was the good child who never caused trouble\u2014never \u201cgot dirty.\u201d I met Jesus early in life and have followed Him ever since.<\/p>\n

But my brother chose a different life. He jumped into the mire and stayed there\u2014that is, he got stuck in his sins and never did climb out of that mud to get hosed off. He died at an early age, reaping what he\u2019d sown.<\/p>\n

The Word of the Lord to us is that Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, \u201cthat He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word\u201d<\/em> (Ephesians 5:25-26). He can see that we\u2019ve been in the mud, and He wants to hose us off and make us clean. In fact, He took the drastic measure of giving up His own life to be sure we could be clean if we wanted to.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one thing to be stuck in the mud and unable to get a grip on something to help you climb out of the hole. God is able to deliver you. It\u2019s another thing entirely to love the mud so much that you don\u2019t want to get out. Pray for the Spirit\u2019s conviction for what is the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

And if you don\u2019t have strength even for that, we will pray for you.<\/p>\n

Father, Your love draws us to You. Would You love everyone reading this today in such a way that they are drawn to You, so they would desire Your cleansing. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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