“Dirty Jobs”
Have you ever watched the TV show? I never knew there were so many truly filthy jobs. I’ve had a few dirty assignments in my life – from cleaning out barns to diaper duty to quite dead animals – and I am quite contented with my main occupation!
For anyone who walked into the church last Tuesday, the smell proclaimed that someone had a dirty job to do! With the heavy rains the night before, water had backed up from the sewer into the basement. Plus it turns out that our sump pump wasn’t working. Special thanks to Bob Russell and to Bob & Brent Orebaugh for being willing to get dirty.
As they say, “Somebody’s gotta do it.” Dirty jobs are a byproduct of human living. Even something as cute and pure and wholesome as a newborn baby makes dirty diapers! None of us would have food to eat if someone didn’t get down in the dirt and plant some seeds.
However, even those necessary dirty jobs carry risks. Farmers need to wash their hands before eating. Sewer workers need to take extra precautions against infections. A manure pile is no place to send your children to play. Kids will get dirty; but we watch with diligence what kind of dirt they are playing in. Germs and parasites are tiny in size, but mighty in effect.
Just as we watch over them physically, we watch over them morally and spiritually to guard them against “dirt” that can harm them. It is right for parents and grandparents to monitor what their children are watching on TV or how they are using the internet. That may be censorship, but it is also love. God puts children into families for a reason! It is our job to protect them from harmful places, and from influences that will lead their soul in the wrong direction. Just because it seems tiny in size does not mean a tiny effect.
What about our own souls? Who is watching over us, to keep us from “playing in the dirt?” God has given us a conscience, but it only works if we listen. Each wrong decision steers the conscience in the wrong direction, and each right decision steers it in the right direction. We have God’s word to help us discern between right and wrong, but it only works if we read it. We have the Body of Christ to give us good examples and to correct us when we stray; it helps pick us up when we fall, and puts our feet back on the pathway… but only if we stay connected. And most importantly, we have the Holy Spirit living within us to give us the strength to make the right choices.
After doing one of those dirty jobs, there is nothing quite like a nice hot shower and a good bar of soap. Maybe it had to be done, but we don’t have to carry the dirt around with us. Thank God for a Savior who washes us clean when we fall in the mud. Even when, in a moment of weakness, we were playing in the mud. Jesus went to the cross to scrub us clean.
Let’s take care to watch over our own souls this summer.
See you in Church!