Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet (John 13:10).
It had been a long
day leading up to the last supper. Jesus and his disciples had walked into town
from Bethany, taught in the temple, and wandered the streets of Jerusalem.
When, during their meal together, Jesus got up and started washing his
disciples’ feet, they could hardly believe it. Peter protested: You
will never wash my feet! (NLT, v. 8a).
But Jesus responded,
Unless I wash you, you have no part with me (v. 8b).
Peter surrendered, Then
. . . not just my feet; wash my hands and my head too (v. 9).
Jesus explained, Those
who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean (vv. 10).
In walking through
this world day after day (in spite of the fact we mostly drive over paved
roads), we still pick up the dust and dirt of the world on our feet. We might
struggle with mental images that stir up lust, unforgiveness for wrongs
suffered at the hands of others, or even guilt for wrongs we ourselves have
perpetrated.
We haven’t turned
our backs on the faith; it’s just that our feet have gotten dirty. We need to
let go of those things and give them to God before the filth becomes part of
us. Confession and repentance is like a refreshing basin of water with which to
cleanse the spirit of the world’s dirt.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Do your spiritual feet need
washed? What kind of dirt have you picked up in the last few days? Ask God to
show you and then confess and repent of those things.
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