God Can Wash it Off

This past week I started doing myself the favor of getting a bit healthier. Having always loved athletics, sports etc. in high school and college, I thought it would be good if I started working out. My friend gets me this pass for a week to a local gym. I go. I work out. I get reaquainted with the phrase "no pain, no gain".

On day one I pumped the iron. I didn't overdo it. On day two I did a few different excercises (so as not to overdo it). On day three, four etc. I cycle through my routine. The part I forgot was that my arms were attached to my body and were used to work different parts of the body. I worked the chest, the biceps, the shoulders, the lats etc. all by doing routines with my arms.

So one day mid-week I literally cannot straighten my arms and when I do reach for something, shake a hand, get a fork, whatever, I am in pain. The Aleve gel caps aren't cutting it, nor is the ibuprofen. At my wits end over the arm pain and lack of mobility, I make a verbal complaint in the kitchen to my wife. The whole point of this story is what happened next.

My four year old son heard me and said, "God can wash it off dad." I then replied, "wash what off?" He emphatically said, "The HURT!" There you have it. What I teach, try to model, emphasize and pass on to my kids has been caught by my four year old son. The simplicity of our faith from the words of a child. God really can wash it off!

How many times do we forget what we have been taught, what we've learned or received? Did we really learn it if we forgot? I mean we learned how to tie our shoes. We've learned how to drive our cars (well in Massachusetts maybe not!). We've learned how to speak using words and articulate thoughts verbally. Has anyone forgotten how to tie their shoes lately? Have you seen someone you work with perplexed with two laces saying to themselves "Now how does this go again?" I didn't think so. I wonder why? I think it has something to do with how much we practice those things.

God help me and you to always practice the habit of asking God to wash off the pain, the shame, the sin, the difficult things, the irritations, the sicknesses and failures. We forget that God can do it perhaps because we simply don't practice it enough. God really can do it! If you don't believe me, just ask my four year old son.