I can’t seem to get the smell off my hands!  Now before your mind starts wondering and you get all mad because you think I am being gross about improper restroom hygiene, let me tell you the story.

Last week I went down with a volunteer team to the Gulf Coast to help hurricane victims.  The small team, made up of individuals from three separate churches, worked for a family F2W adopted approximately a year ago.  This wonderful family of five, the Jones’s, completely lost their home to Katrina and has been living in a small camper trailer.

During this particular trip the F2W team worked on painting the inside of Jeff’s home.  Many colors and many coats later, the team was able to finish much of the interior painting of the house.  And for all their great hard work these volunteers were rewarded with some unique experiences.  Fishing, fellowship, flounder gigging, a cookout, and a shrimp boat tour were some of the great treats this team got to experience.

And all this led to the greatest experience of all, learning how to “tail” shrimp.  Jeff, a commercial fisherman, gave us a crash course in this art of preparing shrimp by removing their heads.  To which the team got some good practice by tailing 100 lbs of these nasty looking (but great tasting) creatures!

Which brings me back to my hands.  They still smell like shrimp!  I have scrubbed and scrubbed.  And still the smell is there.  And this morning as I stood in the shower smelling my fingers I thought, “This is like life, all our hands stink.”  Stink with the smell of all the wrongs we have done.  They stink because we are dirty.  Dirty with sin (Romans 3:23).

And no amount of washing (through hoping, or wishing, or denying, or good deeds) is going to get the “smell” off our hands.  Only one thing will clean us, will make us stop stinking.  And that is calling out to the Lord and King, Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:11). 

And by the way, lemon juice will remove the shrimp smell from your fingers.  So I guess in a way Jesus is the ultimate lemon juice...   Have you experienced the cleaning power?

Chasing Him,

Ike

PS: Thanks to all the great volunteers who gave their time and energy to help this family.  And to all the sponsors who graciously give of their resources.  You guys are making a difference!