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"He brought me up from the roaring pit,
up from the muddy ooze, and set my feet on a rock, making my
footing firm." (Ps. 40:2, Complete Jewish Bible)
The first time I ever let my Golden
Retriever puppy off her leash for a run, she was terrified!
She cowered under my feet, refusing to resume her play??”until
she grabbed the end of the leash in her mouth! But this
didn??™t last long. She quickly learned EXACTLY what you do
with freedom: As soon as the leash is unclasped, you RUN??”and
if there happens to be a muddy drainage ditch along the way,
so much the better!
Because of this innate attraction to mud,
I have learned to quell her "off-leash" times to places
where there aren't any ditches. But this morning I decided
I didn??™t need to worry about mud. We were in the midst of a
Niagara-in-the-Spring "dry spell" (three days without
rain!). The ditches SHOULD be dry!
It only took my pup five seconds from the
time I unclasp the leash to prove me wrong. The instant she
was free, she charged into the first drainage ditch, and
waves of muddy water flew for several
feet on either side. A mere moment of freedom, and
from the belly down, my golden pup looked like a chocolate
lab!
But as I watched her running back to me,
for the briefest of instants, it wasn't a dirty dog that I
saw. It was??”ME! I was running across the grass with
mud caked to my feet and my legs! I suddenly understood. I
had made some bad choices. I had chosen to caper in the mud
and grime of iniquity. Like my pup, I was dirty!
Heart-wrenching sobs bubbled up from the pit of my soul as
all of the anguish, the pain, the sorrow, and the
disappointment of yielding to temptation poured forth.
Through my tears, I then saw something
else. I saw Jesus standing on the road. Despite my
filthiness, He was waiting for me with out-stretched arms!
My sobs of sorry turned to tears of joy as I realized I
still had a Savior who loved me, even though I had capered
in the muddy ditch of sin!
Then God's voice resounded in my ear: "A
person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his
whole body is clean. And you are clean . . ." (John
13:10) My tears poured forth anew. I was the one
who had chosen to run in the mud of sin. But because my
heart belonged to the Lord, when I turned back to Him, I
only needed my feet washed. The rest of me was still clean!
What mercy! What grace! What LOVE!
My friend, are you capering in a muddy
ditch? Playing with evil? Holding on to a pet sin? If you
are, turn to Jesus. He is waiting with outstretched arms to
take you back and to gently wash your dirty feet. Turn back
now, my friend! Being clean again is MUCH more exhilarating
that the thrill of the caper!
Love in Christ,
Lyn
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Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/
), Answers2Prayer Ministries (www.Answers2Prayer.org)
,
Lyn@Sermonillustrator.org
.
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To read archived stories, click on this link:
http://archives.zinester.com/9516/2004
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Blessings to you today
Bob Johnston
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