I am always blown away by Jesus getting down on His hands and knees and washing His disciples’ dirty, smelly feet. But what really gets me is that Jesus washed the feet of Judas, the person He knew would betray Him. It is one thing to teach about loving or praying for your enemies. It is another thing to kneel before them like Jesus did and wash their feet. So often when we talk about serving, we are talking about things like being kind to your neighbor, taking a pot of soup to a sick person, sitting with a shut-in, tutoring a child. Make no mistake, that is wonderful and good. But you can do those things without Jesus. There are a lot of non- believers who can do a lot of good to others, but here Jesus is washing the feet of the one who would betray Him. Not only is He washing his feet, He is pointing to the cross where He will give His life for him, and He says to us to go and do the same thing. You can’t serve like that without first having received the grace of Jesus in your life and allowing Him to wash the dirt off your feet. Jesus taught us to love people we do not like, but first you have to let Jesus wash you. Only when you have received His grace can you do what He asked you to do. Receive the grace of God in your own life and then go and give it away like Jesus.
– Dr. Tim Thompson
(*Kara’s story can be found at www.mundanefaithfulness.com)