Not Just My Feet
As I step into the shower each evening, the water - first warm from the sun-heated pipes, then cool from the deep well - streams down my legs, over my feet, and swirls around the drain until it finally disappears. At first the water is brown, dirty, but eventually it begins running clear. It’s not the water that’s dirty, or sediment in the pipes, it’s my feet. It’s so dusty here that I come home every day with dust caked on my sandalled feet. It was even worse when we first arrived - we didn’t have a car yet, so I would walk home from work each day. After the 20-minute walk, I would be dripping with sweat, giving the dust even more to cling to.
This experience has helped me relate with the custom of foot washing during Jesus’ time. As a child, I used to think it would be strange if someone washed my feet every time I arrived at a friend’s house. And even the custom of foot washing at church wasn’t something I related to very much because my feet were always clean when I came to church. But now living in this dry, dusty environment, biblical practice has come alive for me!
It has helped me to understand Peter a little more too: “‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’”(John 13:9, NIV). Coming home at the end of the day, especially if I've walked, it’s not just my feet that need a wash - I’m sweaty, hot, and dusty all over! It makes so much more sense to have a complete shower, rather than just wash my feet. And that’s what Peter is saying here: It’s not just my feet that are dirty. If you’re going to attempt to make me clean, make all of me clean!
Thankfully, Jesus is patient with Peter, and with us, as he explains: When you first came to me, you were washed all over, but as you walk through life, your feet get dirty again. Your heart belongs to Me, it is still clean, but your feet need washing from the daily sin encountered on this journey.
I’m thankful Jesus accepts us with our dusty feet and offers to wash them to make us clean again!
This experience has helped me relate with the custom of foot washing during Jesus’ time. As a child, I used to think it would be strange if someone washed my feet every time I arrived at a friend’s house. And even the custom of foot washing at church wasn’t something I related to very much because my feet were always clean when I came to church. But now living in this dry, dusty environment, biblical practice has come alive for me!
It has helped me to understand Peter a little more too: “‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’”(John 13:9, NIV). Coming home at the end of the day, especially if I've walked, it’s not just my feet that need a wash - I’m sweaty, hot, and dusty all over! It makes so much more sense to have a complete shower, rather than just wash my feet. And that’s what Peter is saying here: It’s not just my feet that are dirty. If you’re going to attempt to make me clean, make all of me clean!
Thankfully, Jesus is patient with Peter, and with us, as he explains: When you first came to me, you were washed all over, but as you walk through life, your feet get dirty again. Your heart belongs to Me, it is still clean, but your feet need washing from the daily sin encountered on this journey.
I’m thankful Jesus accepts us with our dusty feet and offers to wash them to make us clean again!
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