Washed in a New Way

     

     This morning I sat at the table with my beautiful little 4-year-old.  We had our cereal and then took down the Jesus Storybook Bible for devotions.  We read about the sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, hair, and perfume while he was at the house of some "important people".  Jesus looked at this woman and could see through the bad reputation she had.  He saw through the grime and the disgraceful lifestyle she had led.
   
     He saw her heart, and it was one that loved and trusted and needed HIM.
   
He also looked at these "important people" and though they followed the rules and looked good from the outside, Jesus knew better.
   
     Jesus saw their hearts, and they were arrogant and didn't believe they needed a savior.
   
     When Jesus told the woman that her sins were forgiven the men became angry.  They didn't believe Jesus to be God's son and couldn't understand how he thought he could forgive sins.
     We finished the story and my little guy looks at me with a concerned look.  "Mommy, I think that if those men were bad and mean, then Jesus should give them a flick."  I smiled, trying not to laugh at this serious solution to their attitudes.  I explained the story to him again in simpler form.  When we get to the part of Jesus seeing the woman's heart and saying that she has been rescued because she believed, my boy smiled and rested his head on me.
     This story came at the perfect time.  We've been talking about being beautiful on the inside and how it's the most important thing to God.  God doesn't really care what we look like on the outside.  What matters is where our heart is in accordance with him.
     Our culture keeps us so divided from this theory.  Don't leave your house without make-up on.  Make sure you fix your hair.  Dress nicely because you never know who you might see.  If every day before I left my house, I took the same care to make sure the inside was as well kept as the outside.  If I took as much time and care washing, cleaning, and putting together my outfit for the inside as I do the outside, people would notice a difference.  I fully believe this.  They would see God much more clearly.  If we didn't wash and care for our bodies properly, eventually we wouldn't appear so nice.  The same is true with our hearts.
     "Lord God, you are the only thing good in this world.  You are beautiful always.  Praise you God for the example of what it means to be beautiful.  I ask for your help Lord.  That I would remember and desire to care for what really counts more than I do my outside appearance.  Help my sin to not get in the way of doing your will.  Thank you for being a God of grace."