Parable of the Lost Socks

There once was a mother who did loads of laundry to keep her family in clean clothes. She washed all sorts of garments, but the socks tended to spread everywhere. Some of the socks stayed with the load, traveling from the laundry basket to the washing machine to the dryer and making it to their proper place folded together as a pair and placed in the drawer. Some of the socks strayed from the pile, falling on the stairs or on the kitchen floor while being transported to the laundry room, but she quicly retraced her steps and added them to the next load. Some of the socks slipped behind or under the appliances when being transported from the washing machine to the dryer, only to show up again after much heavy lifting or right before moving day. And still others disappeared without a trace, ....appearing at odd places and at odd times or never showing up again, perhaps never even making it to the laundry basket in the first place.

Now, here is the application of the socks. The mother is a teacher spreading the good news. She launders clothes, just as one teaches many different listeners. The pair of socks that makes it safely to the goal, is one who hears and remains obedient through all sorts of adversity in life to be treated with the reward of being joined together with our Maker safely in heaven. The socks that strayed on their way down to the laundry room are those who obeyed, but slipped through the cracks, falling when things got tough, but then got right back up where they belonged. The socks that slipped mid-load are those who obey, then fall into a tight spot, and only make it up again after much struggling and effort. Those who never surface or show up sporadically perhaps never really heard, or obeyed.

In case you are worried that I may have officially lost it, socks are on my mind due to a major matching session we just completed. The picture you are about to witness may be frightening, but it is much better than what the room looked like 30 minutes earlier. And yes, those are ziplock bags of mismatched socks!

May all of our socks make it safely to the shelter of their drawer. And may the Lord be patient with us who continually struggle to keep our pair together.