I love living in Arizona, but there is one notable downside: dry skin, particularly on my feet. Many of us wear sandals year-round, so it is an ongoing problem. But I think that I’ve finally conquered it with daily applications of lotion, morning and night. I slather on the lotion, let it settle in, and slide my feet into an old pair of soft slippers for a while. Combined with occasional vigorous scrubbing with a foot brush or pumice stone, my feet are happy — and so am I!

I must confess that this new routine was prompted by a visit to the podiatrist for some minor repair. I was embarrassed by the condition of my feet, and I knew that something different needed to happen before I settled into his chair and my feet ended up more or less in his face.

Am I the only one who sometimes finds myself in the same situation spiritually? Something in my life gets out of control — eating, worrying, fear, envy — or any one of a number of other sinful attitudes. I let it go on, either out of laziness or a desire to keep doing it — like the chocolate that I find so hard to resist. Then, I read a Scripture, hear a sermon, talk to a friend, or read a devotional that, like my visit to the podiatrist, lets me know that it’s time for a change.

“Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.” (Romans 1:29-31 NLT)

Sometimes, we think that sin applies only to the “big ones”, like murder, drunkenness, or sexual immorality. But this text talks about the ideas, attitudes, and interactions that could be compared to the rough skin on our feet. They make life unpleasant for us and those around us, and can even blow up into a major event if we let them go on too long. They need scrubbing, cleansing, and smoothing!

The Bible offers two solutions for our spiritual dry skin:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ESV)
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:14 ESV)

Then, we can experience the “lotion” that we need — the anointing of the Holy Spirit — to cleanse our lives and enable us to look at the world through Jesus’ eyes.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV)

Prayer: Father, help us to look at our lives through Your eyes, to confess our sins, and to show the fruit of the Spirit to all those around us. Amen.

Copyright © 2022, by Sharon Cook <craftercook@gmail.com>, first published on the PresbyCan Daily Devotional presbycan.ca .
Apache Junction, Arizona, USA

Reprinted from PresbyCan with author’s permission