Muddy shoes and sin and how they're related.

So I was pondering scrubbing my beautiful hard-wood floor, and the fact that I could get it all spiffy, only to have muddy feet wander all over it. Then I'd be tempted to whine and moan and berate the mud-bearer. I'd even be a martyr and clean the floor AGAIN. I'd launch into an hour long sermon on how mud-tracking shows such a lack of respect, and how selflessness shows a certain holiness. All this vaguely familiar to a resounding gong and clanging cymbal.

It dawned on me that I'm very thankful my Savior doesn't think of my sin the way I think of mud-tracking. He went to all the trouble to SAVE me, for crying out loud, and then I go and mess it all up again!

No, He wraps me in his arms, tells me how He delights in me, and how He longs to cleanse me all over again. He speaks of how readily and eagerly He forgives me. And then we just hang out, enjoying each other's company.

I suppose, as I run out the door, He might add an after-thought: "Adina, you might want to learn the self-discipline of not running through the house with muddy feet. You would greatly benefit if you could conquer that impulse. I'll help you with that, if you want. Not because I'll love you more if you take your shoes off at the door, but because the results in your heart would be so amazing. I couldn't possibly love you more than I do already."

(on a side note, this house is occupied by two adults, one child, two dogs, and one cat. You can decide who tracks in the most mud!)

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Comment by Laura Parker on February 10, 2009 at 8:25pm
loved this post, Adina! loved the tie-in and loved the way you related how God's love for us is sooo beyond the love we give each other. thanks for writing. :)
Comment by Todd Zeller on February 5, 2009 at 8:39am
I guess mud-filled shoes tells me someone has at least been out walking, exploring, playing.... living. I guess the only other option is to stay in the house, stay on the couch, just stay home and then you will stay clean.... if you don't put your shoes on then they won't get muddy. Something tells me mud-filled shoes are from "getting out of the house" moving forward to explore, to find adventure, to find life how it was meant to be. Not safe, not stationary.... but actively moving out. Did I say yet that I enjoy sitting on the couch.... I love when the kids go play outside, but for me...... it's very comfortable to just stay on the couch!

Mat. 5:3 "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs."

Today, I am in need of Him again, for forgiveness and mercy for mud-tracked floors..... and grace and courage to keep "going outside" to find where He wants me to go.

Thanks Adina for sharing and Spirit for your reminder of your grace!
Comment by Adina Henderson on February 5, 2009 at 7:33am
Teri, when you put it that way, I really PREFER the mud-tracked floors, and worn out couches.
Comment by Teri Miller on February 4, 2009 at 9:58pm
Okay, so on a bunny-trail, totally-unrelated-to-sin thought about mud-tracked floors...
seems to me that mud-tracked floors, and coffee-mug-stained coffee tables, and worn-out couches, are a sign of relationship. Y'know? I figure that people with perfect houses probably don't have many drop-in friends...or friends to go visit...or relationships to cultivate. 'Cause they spend too much time & focus cleaning their house?

Oh - or am I just trying to justify my mud-tracked floors and messy house? Hmmm...
Comment by Community on February 4, 2009 at 5:27pm
The cat?
No. I know it's not the cat. And I do know that I'm a big mud- tracker in a lot of spiritual ways. And, you need to know that I have secretly scorned the people who used to own this house, for putting in wall-to-wall WHITE carpeting in every room. Were they NOT thinking of mud-trackers?!? But, maybe living in community is like living with white carpets. It keeps us pretty honest about our mud. Yes?

Thanks for this image, Adina!

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