Wash Their Feet

 

 John 13:12-17
 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

 Washing the feet of others may not be what society considers serving, however in biblical times it was an act one's servant would do when guest where invited in. Jesus preforms it as a symbolic gesture of serving one humbly and unconditionally. He was setting an example not only for his disciples but for us today. What was considered a lowly human task the son of God himself did so from love.

I began to question what some ways are to serve others in my life. How can I "wash" their feet?  And then the thought that spoke swiftly to my heart.... "Do I truly serve those in need with unconditionally love and humble myself?" 

Serving is..............
* Listening when I'd rather just fix the problem.
* Lending a helping hand when I feel like I am the one who needs help.
* Telling God to use me when I'd rather be rescued.
* Giving when I doubt I have anything left to give.
* Comforting by becoming a flicker of light in the darkness of others.

Truly serving others can be difficult. It can be painful and uncomfortable as we are moved from our own needs and comfort zone.  Many of us, because of our own fleshy desires, want to be front and center. We want to be on the receiving end instead of the giving side. Giving is work and sometimes the work is grueling labor mixed with blood, sweat and tears. But the ever so sweet side is when the one we are helping, the one whose needs are greater than our own, witness the love of Christ through the hands of his children. For as long as I can remember I have asked God to use me as an instrument of his love; for others to see Him in me. 

 However, not once, when I have asked, did I realize that in doing so I would have moments, days or even seasons of serving it would be hard in the flesh; a period of time when the difficulties would outweigh the comforts and the struggles of it all seemed to be never unending. When I am called to help others, I find myself looking at my circumstances and realize by helping others I am helping myself. And the reality proves my situation isn't as bad as I believed it to be.

Serving or washing feet, has taught me to see the good in every situation; to hope, to believe, and to trust in the plans Jesus has not only for me but those I am serving. I have been shown time and time again no one is exempt from times of hardship and no one, absolutely no one, is greater than the next. We all have our seasons of suffering, but it is in those seasons if we choose to look at others and not ourselves, we can see the love of God working in our own lives.

In past events surrounding those I know and love, I witnessed the many hands of Jesus reaching out and serving those in need. Many had no homes of their own to go to, no beds to lay their weary heads down, no clothes to wear, no shoes to cover their feet and yet in spite of their own losses, they continued to reach out to others in their time of need.  They shed their own tears in the solitude of God's grace and smiled in the noise of chaos.  They each in their own right had shown hope, grace, love and attitudes that echo " We will overcome!!"

I have been blessed to see firsthand others "washing feet" in spite of the many hurdles they themselves were enduring.  Each had done so with a precious love, a sweet humbleness and not a word of complaint. Instead of crying over what they had lost, in turn their words were ones of compassion; inquiring what others need from them instead of what they themselves needed.

 As I long to always be His humbled messenger whose heart spills the unconditional love of Jesus, I pray when I am called to wash the feet of those in need, I am able to listen, lend, be useful, give, comfort and be the example Jesus taught us how to be when He washed the feet of his disciples.

"Wash their feet" he says.

 I will Lord...........