We have two types of weather. Hot with rain and hot without rain. And it is too hot for sneakers or any closed shoes. For this reason, the most practical footwear is flip-flops. In them, you can walk through mud, water, and muddy water—and even take a shower. They can also be easily kicked off when you need to enter a home.
Around here, feet get dirty real quick. And you need to clean them, right? Our feet need to be scrubbed on a daily basis and with great determination, especially because we only have a small pump on our well and the water pressure in our shower is really low.
This is when a special foot brush comes in handy. I had to replace our foot brush this week. The bright red brush has now morphed into a dull brown version caused by Cambodian red soil. Its bristles are now about half their original size.
For our family, foot washing has become a ritual. If we do not wash our feet, they will not get clean. We have to scrub them to make sure that they look decent and to maintain proper foot hygiene. As I scrub my feet, I think about how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. I can imagine them wearing sandals and having feet begrimed and blackened with ingrained dirt. Jesus washed their feet as an example, not just of servanthood but of how even after baptism, the sin in our hearts continually needs His cleansing grace.
Isaiah 1:18 says, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’”
Scarlet or crimson was the color of a deep-red pigment, and its deep stain was virtually impossible to remove from clothing. The stain of sin seems equally permanent, but God can remove sin’s stain from our lives just as He promised to do for the Israelites. We do not have to go through life permanently soiled, and we cannot enter into heaven with sins. God’s Word assures us that if we are willing and obedient, Christ will forgive and remove our most indelible stains.
Now I have a new perspective and understand the necessity of foot washing on a deeper level. Daily, let us pray to God to be scrubbed of our sins so that we can be ready for heaven.
