June 19, 2017

Sandal Feet

Devotion for the Week...

The weather has finally made a turn for the better around here and I've started wearing my sandals again. I love wearing my sandals, but sandal feet aren't always the cleanest. This was especially true one day after spending most of the day outside with the kids I babysit and then going for a long walk after they went home. My feet were filthy! And my plans for the evening included basting a quilt made of light coloured fabrics, on my kitchen floor. Basting a throw size quilt on my floor means I will definitely be walking on the quilt since there is very little room to walk around it. My sandal-dirty feet and that quilt were not going to make a good combination!

As I washed my feet, I thought of Jesus washing the disciples' feet and cringed. I really don't like feet. The idea of getting a pedicure holds no appeal for me, because I don't like having my feet touched. Ditto for getting a foot massage. And giving a foot massage? Definitely not going to happen!

Then, that Sunday, my pastor was talking about the importance of serving others and made reference to Jesus washing their feet. He pointed out that not only would their feet have been dust-dirty (like mine were), but they would also have been dirty from walking on roads that were covered in animal droppings. Yuck!! I had never considered that before. I can't even imagine how dirty those feet would have been, can you?

John 13:12-17 says, "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."

Thankfully, our culture is different from theirs and I don't actually have to wash people's feet when they come to my home 😊

I've always looked at this passage and mostly paid attention to the idea that 'no servant is greater than his master', and I've taken that to mean that no one is above doing any particular job. No matter how lowly the job, my position is never so exalted that I'm above doing it. Jesus washed feet like a servant, so I'm certainly not above menial work.

These past few days, though, I've been focusing on 'I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you' and thinking about those incredibly dirty, stinky feet. Jesus washed them, and then He said that I should do as He did. So, not only are there no menial jobs that are beneath me, I'm also not excused from jobs I think are gross.

When we think in terms of serving others, we tend to think of using the gifts God gave us. That means we tend to think of serving others by doing things we like doing. But, even if he didn't dislike feet in general, I doubt Jesus liked washing the disciples' disgustingly dirty feet. He still did it though, because it was a job that needed to be done.

Looking around, are there jobs we avoid because they're dirty or gross? Do we try everything we can to get out of doing them? When we can't get out of doing it, do we cringe and complain the whole time? Somehow I doubt Jesus was making faces while washing their feet, or muttering under His breath about it being someone else's job to do it.
Weekly devotions on Christian living | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
According to Jesus' example, serving others means getting in there and doing what needs to be done, even if it's dirty work.

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