John 13:10 “Jesus said to him, ‘He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.’”

I did a whole lot of shaking and stomping the other day! No, I wasn’t line dancing, but I was helping to man our Sheridan Team booth at the Farm Science Review near London, Ohio. The crowds swelled as the morning progressed and we shook hands with many old friends as well as making some new ones. Later, when we had a lull in the rush I joined the many boot-clad farmers stomping around the grounds, visiting the vendors and booths.

Dad and I stopped at the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association tent for lunch, said howdy to our friends at Farm Credit Services, picked up a newspaper at the Farm World headquarters, and later I hobnobbed with our neighbor at the JD Equipment booth.

I am always fascinated by the many different pieces of equipment and hardware for sale to make the agricultural crowd’s life and business a little easier. My favorite today was a booth across from ours. This company was selling Sole Scrapers. Their motto was “Leave the mess outside.” How apropos! This handy tool would be a huge help for the many men and women whose business requires them to walk around in a lot of muck. I know from experience that after visiting the barn it’s important to clean the soles of your boots before reentering your house.

Spiritually speaking, we also need our souls cleansed. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world through their disobedience to God’s rules, and from that time on every human born on earth is born with a sinful heart. It is necessary to have it cleansed through the blood of Jesus Christ.

After one has received this cleansing there are still times when he or she will sin. We are human and will make mistakes or displease God from time to time. It is difficult to walk around in a world full of muck and not be affected by it. Jesus told Simon Peter that those whom He has made clean from sin have right standing with God. There is no need to be fully bathed again, but at times we will need to have our feet washed.

As the Holy Spirit shows us areas of our life-walk that have become dirty from bad decisions and foolish actions, all we need to do is repent and ask forgiveness. When we come to Him He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). In so doing we keep our feet clean and our relationship with the Lord stays strong and vibrant.

So whether or not you visited the Farm Science Review this year or choose to purchase one of these handy farm tools, make sure you keep your spiritual sole scraper readily available – because when it comes to sin you really want to “leave the mess outside! — Love, Mama