Today was the day. A day I dread. Today is bulldog clean-up day. Bulldogs are notorious for rolling in the grass, losing summer coats and licking each other, a lot... with bulldog slobber. Keeping them clean is critical, but a chore. First you have to gather all the necessary equipment: deshedding brush, skin brush, hair glove, treats (for rewarding compliance.) 
Then comes the water...the soap. Bulldogs have lots of rolls which provide great hiding places for dirt and grime. AnnaBelle loves a good bath. Lola tolerates getting clean. Sometimes I think she is adverse to being too clean. After rolls are cleaned, teeth, wrinkles, then we dry off. AnnaBelle lets me blow dry her but Lola prefers the slow, air dry method. Beth’s make AnnaBelle feel free and happy. Lola escapes outside as soon as she can to roll in the dirty grass. But at least we got the deep down dirt gone. 
Getting all the dirt, dry skin and dead hair and piled up funk is step one. I bless them with treats after I comb a chihuahua’s worth of hair of them.
Getting good and clean and getting dirty reminds me of Paul’s letters to Timothy teaching him to work to be the kind of person to be used for God’s highest purposes. To be cleansed of impurities. The churchy word is “sanctification.” Sanctification is divine cleansing. Just like the bulldogs, we get dirty, things build up. We lose parts of our humanity that has died. The world brings impurity’s to us and they just pack on. Even though we were baptized/ cleansed by water a given the Holy Spirit, thanks to the world we find ourselves in need of removing those things which make us unclean, God offers wonderful blessings to Those of us that allow the Homy Spirit to dig deeper within our souls and remove dirt and grime to keep up clean and pure; maybe even cleaner and more holy.
Now we could allow ourselves to be made righteous dry off and enjoy the blessings or we could run out and relax-roll in the dirt. Either way, God will help us Get clean again.
Look at AnnaBell’s Happy face. That is the face of one who is clean, redeemed and ready for life.
Today:
Think clean
Get clean
Prepare to be used by God for his holy work.
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