This morning I had the privilege of cleaning dog poop off the bottom of my husband's shoes. Normally, for a task such as that, I would say, "Clean them yourself." (Nice, huh?) But in this case, I know that if he attempted to clean them himself, there would be a much bigger mess for me to clean up. You see, Jason has a serious gag reflex. Certain smells and even sounds can trigger that response and then it's "Run for your lives!" Unfortunately for me, poop is one of those smells. He just can't handle it. So, whenever he steps in it (which happens quite often in a yard with two dogs), I get to clean it up.

As I stood at the sink this morning, scrubbing away at his black dress shoes, I was pondering how it is I'm so lucky as to not be as offended by the smell of poop. Yes, I was thinking of how lucky I am to be able to clean up all the poop, vomit, and anything else that would trigger Jason's gag reflex. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling lucky. I was feeling a bit frustrated. After all, I've been fighting a terrible head cold, and the last thing I wanted to be doing this morning was scrubbing poop.

Just as the frustration was beginning to sink in, another thought hit me that completely changed my attitude. Through His still, small voice, the Lord reminded me that I was once covered in something far worse than dog poop. The putrid stench of my sin assaulted the nostrils of a holy God, and I was unable to do anything to remove the filth. That's when Jesus stepped in. With eyes of love and a gentle touch, He scrubbed me clean with His blood and righteousness. He didn't have to. He could have said, "Clean it yourself. It's your sin." But, no! He loved me enough to do what I was unable to do for myself.

And on the heels of that thought, I realized that I love Jason enough to do for him what he cannot. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it!

Excerpt from 'Paws'itively Divine: Devotions for Dog Lovers. Now available in paperback and e-book formats.

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