Throwback Tuesday - Martin Wiles

Lessons on Bathing

Clean. People define it differently and engage in various activities to achieve it.

Before running water and electricity, once a week baths with sponging off in between constituted clean. Even after these inventions, my grandparents didn’t bathe every day but still considered themselves clean. For others, clean involves showering or bathing daily.

Beyond bathing is our obsession with hand washing and hand sanitizer. Although some germs are actually beneficial, we wash them away with our compulsion. Wipes are carried to sponge them away, and hand sanitizer bottles are toted like Kleenex. Too much of a good thing can actually be bad. Read more...

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Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

Feeling Dirty

Five days had passed, and I couldn’t wait to slither into a nice hot shower.

Only once in my life have I been more than two days without bathing. But presently my daughter and I were on a five-day backpacking trip, and the only water available was for drinking and cooking-not washing. While we wiped down each evening, these “piggy baths” didn’t completely remove the dirt and sweat we accumulated from trudging over mountains. We felt more than a little dirty by the time we were through. Read more...

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Daily Baths - Martin Wiles

A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet to be entirely clean. And you are clean. John 13:10 NLT

As I sat at my computer writing in the early morning hours, my wife hollered, “Come quickly.”

Though we live in the city, a few months ago an opossum came waddling between the privacy fence that surrounds our back yard and made himself at home rummaging around in our yard. He was very small. A few weeks ago, I saw him again, ambling across the top of our privacy fence. He was much larger now. 

On this particular morning, my wife discovered his hideout. A small patch of brush and trees separates our subdivision from the one behind us. One of the larger trees had a hollow in it, and he had made it his home. In the early morning light, he sat upon a strong limb and bathed himself, much like a raccoon or cat. 

To teach His disciples about serving, Jesus on one occasion washed their feet. When He came to Peter, Peter refused. He thought this was beneath the Messiah to perform such a menial task. Jesus explained that though Peter didn’t need to wash all over, his feet still needed washing. After all, people in this time period walked the dusty roads barefooted or either in sandals. 

With rare exception, I, like the opossum, take daily baths. I feel cleaner when I do even if I’ve done nothing that day to get dirty. Oils build up on my skin. I may have eaten at a restaurant with sizzling smells, or perhaps I’ve been “junking” in thrift stores. 

Jesus was talking about a spiritual bath. The disciples had bathed when they trusted Jesus as who He claimed to be—God’s Son. Once this is done, all sins are washed away—past, present, and future. I don’t need a whole body bath again. But I do need daily cleansing. My feet get dirty from walking through the world. The opossum didn’t jump in the lake; he just licked parts of his body. 

My daily baths come in the form of confession for sins of omission and sins of commission. Also apologies for missing opportunities the Savior has sent because I was too busy, selfish, or consumed in my own world. This daily bath keeps me on good terms with Christ and helps me hear Him clearly when He calls. 

Don’t neglect your daily bath. 

Prayer: Father, move us to daily confession so we can hear You clearly when You call us to ministry opportunities. 

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