A friend shared a story about arriving home one day to his small daughter’s exuberant welcome. Problem was, she was covered in spaghetti sauce, having just been fed by her mom. Being still in his work clothes, my friend held off his daughter’s embrace so as not to soil his nice clothes. In his sharing of this story, as I remember it, my friend felt regret that he hadn’t just as joyfully embraced his dirty daughter as God so joyfully embraces us, His dirty children.
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Joyce Meyer points out the order in which those things happen: draw near to God, then cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.
We can’t become clean on our own. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can accomplish that. If we wait until we’re clean to draw near to God, instead of trusting in Him to do the cleansing, we will never come to Him.
I think about my friend’s story whenever I try to keep my kids’ dirty hands away from my clean clothes. Oh, that I would accept them, dirt and all, the way God accepts me.
Thankful today for:
519. puzzles
520. creative smoothies
521. partnership
522. laughter
523. praise music
524. cleanliness
525. acceptance
526. weekly trash pick up
527. thunderstorms
528. my kids still liking to be with me
529. my Macbook Pro
530. experts
Compelled 
What about a sweaty husband, fresh off a bike ride?!
That’s pushing it.