“Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:11-13)

It’s baseball season, and while my oldest son practices, my other two boys play in a powdery red dirt pile. Yesterday they buried themselves up to the neck, like you do at the beach in summer, and I wouldn’t even let them into the house until their feet were clean. There’s a reason children get baths before bedtime: they’re filthy! Cleansing goes beyond a nicety to a daily necessity in our house.

Cleansing should be a daily necessity in my walk with God as well. Though I would never go to bed with dirty feet, many days I go to bed with unconfessed sin.  Matthew 6, an excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer above, indicates clearly that coming clean with God – in forgiveness and repentance – should be a natural part of my everyday life. Why? One reason given in verse 13 above is our protection.

Ephesians 6:14 tells us to stand firm with our breastplate of righteousness in place. When I am daily receiving God’s forgiveness, and extending it to others who have offended me, I become right with God anew. This is no small thing because a breastplate covers my vital organs – my heart, my lungs -and protects my life!

So, in the same way we wouldn’t go to bed with dirty feet, let’s remember to go to bed with hearts clean before God as well. I can’t help but picture a freshly washed little boy kneeling by his bed, clean in every way – an old fashioned image with a message for today. May I be like a little child in this way, too, daily receiving my Heavenly Father’s cleansing and protection.

Questions to ponder or journal: Am I meeting with God in focused, daily prayer? In my prayers, am I confessing my sins and extending forgiveness to others? Am I holding any grudges? Am I relying on God for every kind of provision (daily bread), or am I walking in my own strength? Check out Hebrews 10:22.