Tag Archives: belong

No Wash, No Belong

“I’m not going to have you washing my feet!” said Peter. “Never!” “If I don’t wash you,” replied Jesus, “you don’t belong to me.” ~JOHN 13:8

Whenever you’re not allowing Jesus to wash you, you’re not really His disciple.

In that moment, when you’re going at it on your own, going your own way, or following the logic and thinking of the world, instead of as first priority allowing Jesus to lead you and shape you and guide you, you are not His disciple. For a disciple is a follower, a student. Who are you a student of?

There is that washing of regeneration which converts your heart and mind and opens your eyes to who Jesus is, and then there are the ongoing washings of renewal which we need continually throughout our journey; for we can easily become sullied from the dirt of the world and eventually find ourselves in a quite unhealthy state, following another master and belonging to someone or something other than Jesus.

When you allow someone to wash your feet, it is like the ultimate submission to their servitude. It is no small task to submit to the Creator of the universe to be your servant. In fact, for some it proves too difficult. Sometimes, like Peter, we are way too “humble” to let the Lord serve us. But just think about the cross for a moment and realize how ineffably giving our Lord really is! How often Jesus wants to tend to us, to our wounds, and we deny Him the blessing.

How does this look? One way it plays out for me personally is these very writings. When I submissively ask Jesus what He would like to say, and humbly listen for His Spirit to speak, many times He serves me by giving me wonderfully divinity-drenched words which I could not come up with on my own. Thanks be to God.