Are you familiar with the account in the scriptures where Jesus begins washing the feet of the disciples? Peter is appalled that Jesus would stoop to such a lowly position and he refuses to allow Jesus to wash his feet, until Jesus explains to him that unless he lets Jesus wash his feet, then he can have no part in following Jesus.
I've heard a lot of messages over the years on this event in the life of Jesus and his disciples. But, I would have to say that the one speaker that brought this into reality for me was Rev. Larry Jackson. You may not know that name, and neither did I until he spoke at a Promise Keeper's event in Knoxville, TN several years ago. What I learned that afternoon, along with 40,000 other men was, that to wash someone's feet.....you needed a servant heart much like the heat of Jesus. And as a husband, that servant heart would cause you to out serve your wife. Rev. Jackson challenged every man in attendance to ask God for His servant heart; to return home as a new man, and to out serve his wife. The first step would be to wash her feet.
I had made the trip to TN with several men from church, and we had a good time going and coming back from there, but you could sense that each one of us was anxious about what was going to happen when we got home. We had been instructed by Rev. Jackson not to tell our wives what we were doing. But, to sit her in a nice chair...... get a bowl of water and a towel.... then return and wash her feet. Only after washing her feet could we explain what we had done, and why.
The closer I got to the house, the more anxious I became. Could I do this? Would Karen understand? Will this really make me the man I need to be in her life and in the life of my kids? I had it all planned out. I walked her toward the living room to sit her in a nice chair, but she stopped me. She told me that she had listened to the entire event on the radio while I was away. Then she told me the most humbling thing that I have ever heard.
I didn't need to wash her feet............again.
1 comment:
This is a powerful statement that I wish more men would not only hear, but internalize and act upon. I am lucky that I have a husband who has had Godly men around him to influence him. He has a servant's heart and almost always out serves me! When I read your blog, it makes me more thankful than I already was for the husband I have and prayerful for other men to be this to their wives. It will divorce proof any marriage! Thank you for sharing!
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