In The Master's Steps
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:00 pm
Shoes, The Gentiles and Manure
My first job was working in an orchard after school. My brother and I would pick up apples for cider and take them to the mill with Blaise, our boss. One of the most exciting jobs (sarcasm) was spreading manure around the trees for fertilization. Jon and Iwould stand next to the trailer when Blaise drove the tractor slowly past the trees. We would shovel off some manure and quickly spread it around the bas of the tree and move on to the next one in the row. When the pile of manure got low on the trilaer, we'd have to get on it and shovel it off while standing on the trilaer right in the middle of the manure. Work would end and we'd head home.
When we got home, we'd take our shoes and socks off outside and head straight to the showers. Our pants and shirts would go right to the basement to be washed, along with our socks. After school the next day, it was time for more manure spreading. Out came a new pair of clean work pants and a shirt. Socks were pretty clea, too. But those nasty, smelly, shoes! Those had to go back on. Everything smelled fresh until we put those shoes on. Then no matter what the rest of the clothes smelled like, all I could smell was manure.
Christians are like that. They try to live for God as best they can, but there's one pair of shoes they keep wearing. Those smelly, sin-stained shoes keep coming on and they refuse to put them off. This is how Paul describes the life of the Gentiles in Ephesians 4. "You must put off the old self" he says. How about you? What 'shoes' do you refuse to put off? Can't you smell them? Put them off and have each area of your life clean before the Lord.
My first job was working in an orchard after school. My brother and I would pick up apples for cider and take them to the mill with Blaise, our boss. One of the most exciting jobs (sarcasm) was spreading manure around the trees for fertilization. Jon and Iwould stand next to the trailer when Blaise drove the tractor slowly past the trees. We would shovel off some manure and quickly spread it around the bas of the tree and move on to the next one in the row. When the pile of manure got low on the trilaer, we'd have to get on it and shovel it off while standing on the trilaer right in the middle of the manure. Work would end and we'd head home.
When we got home, we'd take our shoes and socks off outside and head straight to the showers. Our pants and shirts would go right to the basement to be washed, along with our socks. After school the next day, it was time for more manure spreading. Out came a new pair of clean work pants and a shirt. Socks were pretty clea, too. But those nasty, smelly, shoes! Those had to go back on. Everything smelled fresh until we put those shoes on. Then no matter what the rest of the clothes smelled like, all I could smell was manure.
Christians are like that. They try to live for God as best they can, but there's one pair of shoes they keep wearing. Those smelly, sin-stained shoes keep coming on and they refuse to put them off. This is how Paul describes the life of the Gentiles in Ephesians 4. "You must put off the old self" he says. How about you? What 'shoes' do you refuse to put off? Can't you smell them? Put them off and have each area of your life clean before the Lord.
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