With a large garden, I preserve a lot of my harvest, especially tomatoes, by pressure canning. The process is straightforward. One places veggies in a glass canning jar. Then, one makes sure to wipe off the lip of the jar, very well to ensure a good seal. Next, a flat lid with a rubber seal is placed on the lip of the jar and secured in place with a metal ring. The metal flat and ring should be boiled for several minutes before being placed on the jar to make sure all bacteria is killed and the rubber is soft enough to form a seal.
Then, the jar is placed in a pressure canner, partially submerged in water, and cooked at a given amount of pressure for a given amount of time. Lastly, the jar is removed and placed somewhere to cool. If all goes well, one hears the most wonderful sound – a pop as the lid vacuum seals to the glass jar. After 24 hours, the metal ring is removed and the canner tests the seal by lifting the jar up with the sealed flat between her fingertips. If the seal holds, the harvest is safe.
My jars get rather dusty over the course of their storage because I find dusting my pantry a bit neurotic (shocking, I know), but no matter how dusty the outside of the jar is, if the seal is intact, the food inside is as clean and as safe to eat as the day it was canned.
Ephesians 1:13
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
When we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit seals our soul into his kingdom. Yes, we will get dusty and dirty living in this corrupt world. Sometimes, usually when we have not been focusing on his word, we even sin, but our soul is sealed. So what do we do when we Sin? Wash our feet.
Not literally, but follow me here. In the old testament, when a man was made a priest, he had to go through a ceremonial cleaning – a full body bath, but then after he was cleaned and dressed in priestly garments, if he went out of the tabernacle, only his feet and hands needed to be washed when he returned (Exodus 30). In the New Testament, in John 13, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. At first Peter is grossed out by this and refuses the washing; however, after Jesus tells him that if he won’t let him wash his feet, he has no part of him, Peter goes to the other extreme and asks Jesus to wash his hands and head too.
Jesus answers Peter, “He that is washed needs not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean.”
My friend, are you frustrated by your own shortcomings, take the time to wash your feet and remember who you are. You are a blood bought, righteous child of God!
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