Beautiful Feet
Sitting there with my feet in the basin full of water at the spa party, I suddenly felt years of embarrassment and insecurity begin to slip away and a certain mischievousness take it's place. As a preschooler I thought everyone had a foot like mine, but I soon learned that was not the case. The deformity of my right foot had certainly caused me some insecurity over the years as children teased and laughed at my unusually small and misshapen foot with its four small round toes. In my teens I was feeling a little better about the situation and purchased my first pair of heels only to have the boy I had a huge crush on make a comment about how "gross" my foot looked in the shoe. Eventually, I got past my embarrassment, but certainly did everything I could to not bring attention to my foot. After all, in the whole scope of things this was really nothing. Plenty of people had a problems-REAL problems that were ALOT bigger than this.
One day my co-worker, Patricia, invited me to a "Spa Party" she was hosting after work in our office break room. Now this was before the spa party gained popularity-I had no idea what it was or what it involved. After working a little late, I slid in and joined the party. There was a basin with water and some type of scented powder in which I was to soak my feet. "Great! If I would have known this I would have declined the invitation." Only a couple of my closet friends at the office knew about my foot so I tried to remove my socks and put my feet in the water without anyone noticing.
What came over me then-I do not know. As Patricia was telling about the amazing quality of the spa products, I jerked my foot out of the water and shrieked, "Oh my gosh!!! This stuff has eaten off half my foot!" Now, I know that was a lie (as well as cruel) and I have asked for forgiveness, but it seemed absolutely hysterical to me at the time. It was NOT however, hysterical to poor Patricia whose face was stricken with fear and panic! Nor was it initially the least bit amusing to the other guests, who feared the fate of their feet. It was extremely hysterical to my two closest friends who screamed with laughter. After the situation was explained and Patrica gained her composure we all had a good laugh, as a matter of fact the story has brought quite a few laughs at our office over the years.
Some time after that I came across the scripture in Leviticus in which God said that the Levites could not be priests if they possessed any type of physical deformity and it specifically mentioned a deformity of the feet. It was also commonly accepted that lepers, people with birth defects and certain physical injuries were not even allowed in the Temple. As someone totally crazy about the Lord-the mere thought of this just broke my heart. Had I lived in that time I would have been prohibited from coming to the Temple for corporate worship, prayer and sacrifice.
Praise God, I live on this side of the cross. When Jesus died on that cross and the veil of the Temple was torn we were given blessed access to God. Our deformities and imperfections no longer stop us from having access to God or participating in corporate worship or ministry. In scripture God told through the prophet Isaiah and then again through Paul,
Jesus didn't just help the lame walk again---they ran-they jumped and they danced. Let's not look at our scars and deformities -but rejoice in His healing power. He can take a messed up life and completely transform it. Let's focus on who we are in Christ and serve Him whole-heartedly with beautiful lives and beautiful feet that please Him!!
One day my co-worker, Patricia, invited me to a "Spa Party" she was hosting after work in our office break room. Now this was before the spa party gained popularity-I had no idea what it was or what it involved. After working a little late, I slid in and joined the party. There was a basin with water and some type of scented powder in which I was to soak my feet. "Great! If I would have known this I would have declined the invitation." Only a couple of my closet friends at the office knew about my foot so I tried to remove my socks and put my feet in the water without anyone noticing.
What came over me then-I do not know. As Patricia was telling about the amazing quality of the spa products, I jerked my foot out of the water and shrieked, "Oh my gosh!!! This stuff has eaten off half my foot!" Now, I know that was a lie (as well as cruel) and I have asked for forgiveness, but it seemed absolutely hysterical to me at the time. It was NOT however, hysterical to poor Patricia whose face was stricken with fear and panic! Nor was it initially the least bit amusing to the other guests, who feared the fate of their feet. It was extremely hysterical to my two closest friends who screamed with laughter. After the situation was explained and Patrica gained her composure we all had a good laugh, as a matter of fact the story has brought quite a few laughs at our office over the years.
Some time after that I came across the scripture in Leviticus in which God said that the Levites could not be priests if they possessed any type of physical deformity and it specifically mentioned a deformity of the feet. It was also commonly accepted that lepers, people with birth defects and certain physical injuries were not even allowed in the Temple. As someone totally crazy about the Lord-the mere thought of this just broke my heart. Had I lived in that time I would have been prohibited from coming to the Temple for corporate worship, prayer and sacrifice.
Praise God, I live on this side of the cross. When Jesus died on that cross and the veil of the Temple was torn we were given blessed access to God. Our deformities and imperfections no longer stop us from having access to God or participating in corporate worship or ministry. In scripture God told through the prophet Isaiah and then again through Paul,
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:15
As we share the good news of Jesus Christ to a hurting and broken world our lives become beautiful. I believe that although they may not be visible to others, we each have our own imperfections, deformities and scars and these often stop us from serving God as He desires. Many of these imperfections are scars that have somehow left us thinking that we are unworthy for the ministry that God is calling us. For some it a past of a failed marriage, an abortion, a past of sexual promiscuity or other disobedience. It may be the scars left on the heart by a prodigal child or the words of others telling you that somehow you just don't measure up. It may be the scars from the words we speak to our own heart inflicting feelings of inadequacy. We begin to believe that these things disqualify us from service. When Christ saved us He did so for a purpose-we are to bring glory to God. Our past is our past and there is nothing that we can do to change it, but God can take our past-all our scars, deformities and insecurities and use them to bring glory to Himself as a testimony. Oh, the power of a life changed for Christ.
Jesus didn't just help the lame walk again---they ran-they jumped and they danced. Let's not look at our scars and deformities -but rejoice in His healing power. He can take a messed up life and completely transform it. Let's focus on who we are in Christ and serve Him whole-heartedly with beautiful lives and beautiful feet that please Him!!
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