06/15/2023
It's colossal, it's stupendous, it's amazing, but just not what the Lord wants you to do. Do you think you are a million dollar man of God who is too good to be doing the minimum wage work of the kingdom? Maybe you need to think twice.
“He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.”
Luke 16:10 ASV
As I read this scripture it dawned on me that many times we think something is small when in fact it is enormous. When Jesus laid aside His outer garments and wrapped a towel around His waist to begin washing feet it was nothing new... I am certain that He had washed many feet before. This was the custom of the time. To wash the feet of visitors to your home was commonplace... for a wife to wash her husband's hands and feet before bed... an every night occurrence, but, it became something monumental when Jesus said these words to Peter...
“Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."”
John 13:7 ESV
And after this small insignificant and humbling act was complete Jesus said...
“Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
John 13:16-17 ESV
When God gives us a small task to perform, who are we to think we are above doing it? Do you think your skills place you above your calling? What have you missed by not washing feet? Where does thinking you know better than God leave you?
A while back I watched on television as the Pope washed a wretched man's feet on the Vatican square and then after drying them... he kissed them. Would I have done that? I pray that I would have answered that call. In fact there are 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide; how many would have washed the feet of an indigent... much less, affectionately kissed them? How about the pastor of your church, or the deacon who asks if you need prayer... or you?
"There are many of us willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do the little things." - Dwight L. Moody
Those who do the little things for God usually go unnoticed by us; they just pick up the paper towels from the bathroom floor, or come early to bible study and pray for the room, the teacher, and invite the presence of the Holy Spirit. Being good at the little unseen things means that these people are unheralded by everyone except God who sees them always, and who knows they are answering His call. Harriet Beecher Stowe understood the virtue of these saints when she wrote...
"To be really great in the little things, to be truly Nobel and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization." - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Are we living every day faithfully doing the small and often routine things that God calls us to do? Are we just as satisfied making what many perceive to be a minimum spiritual wage as we are when we are pursuing those "important" things that we feel are the larger desires of God, and thinking we are gathering so much more heavenly treasure? Look back right now, and ask yourself... How many feet have I washed today, or yesterday, or in my life, then lovingly kneel and wash some dirty feet, and if you are humble enough... kiss them.
"And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.""
Matthew 25:40 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for calling us to the little things of the faith, and into your service. Thank you for allowing us to serve only you and to gather no praise from others that might defer the glory we are seeking for you. Heavenly Father we thank you for those times when we realize that the small requests you have asked of us carry with them an anointing of great significance. Help us Lord to hold those things tight to our chest and keep our service purely for you, and to yield the praise others delivered for your glory... to you alone. Lord Jesus teach us to wash feet and to understand the meaning of serving in the humble and hidden ways. Jesus teach us to serve the Father alone and let us see your loving smile, and feel your embrace, as we pray quietly in thanksgiving to Him in your name. Help us be as attentive to the filthy feet we wash as you are to the sins of the unclean sinner.
Rich Forbes