Wednesday Devotional: Getting Our Hands Dirty

Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

I was so pleased today to finish a project I have pondered for years and started working on this winter. I have added an extension to our front landscaping to accommodate native plants that will get a lot of sunshine in the Texas heat. From sticking stakes in the ground to digging and hauling and re-measuring and arranging, the project has taken shape until finally the bed is ready for the plants.

My wife Sara is supportive of my landscape projects. Knowing how my late mother had a green thumb, Sara points out how I like to get my hands in the dirt like her. I feel most connected to my mother when I garden, since she and I frequently worked on garden projects in her final years.

Today I also went out of my way to do something kind for a stranger. In such situations, I feel more connected to God. When I get my hands "dirty" as kindness may entail, I feel like God and I are working on a project together.

I'm reminded of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, when Jesus declared that when he judges the nations, he will reward kind acts, saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Kindness possesses a dual nature; we do something for Jesus while also doing something with Jesus. We serve the people he loves, and we serve alongside his tender Spirit.

Have your hands been dirty lately? Have you gotten down on your knees and dug around in the muck of life to create something beautiful and plant something new? How can you get your hands dirty today?

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