Come And Be Clean by Jenna V Hilton.

“Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”  James 51:2  (KJV)

My dog Skye hates baths. One hundred percent.

In order to bathe her, we need to make her believe that we’re going on a walk. We put the leash on and we walk towards the garage door, then at the last minute drag her towards the back door, and once we’re outside, we have to pick her up.

Skye is a pit bull Labrador mix. She weighs fifty pounds if not more. I don’t need to work out.

My dog’s a baby. Once in the kiddy pool Skye is subdued, but always looking for escape. Her leash is still on. Otherwise bath time would consist of me, my sister, and the dog running around the back yard getting wet and muddy.

Skye doesn’t know that we bathe her to keep her healthy. We react that way to God's cleansing too, don’t we? God sees us getting “dirty” and sinning, and He wants to cleanse us. But we tend to run away from that. We don’t want God to see what we’ve been doing, but He already knows. And He wants to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We need to let Him.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us even when we sin, when we’ve done so much that we can’t bear to come to You. Thank You for Your forgiveness. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Jenna V. Hilton is seventeen, and lives in Arkansas with her parents, two sisters, and dog. She is a senior in high school and planning to attend college to become a veterinarian.