The scene is this: Jesus takes off his outer garment and starts washing the feet of His disciples, doing the job of a servant. He gets to Peter, one of His most prominent disciples. Peter was a leader with a tremendous zeal for the Lord. But he was also rash and impulsive. He usually said whatever was on his mind. In this case, Peter can’t restrain himself. He says to Jesus, “You will never wash my feet, Lord.” He tells Jesus, “NO.”

Peter knows his feet are dirty. He knows they need to be washed. Yet he will not allow Jesus to clean his feet. Jesus responds in a clear and loving way: “All right, Peter. You don’t want me to wash your feet? Fine. But if I don’t wash your feet, you can have no part with me.” The Lord uses strong words to slay Peter’s pride – his blind spot. If Peter didn’t let the Lord cleanse him, he couldn’t be in fellowship with Jesus or the other disciples.

The Lord does the same thing with us. We put up a front and pretend we’re okay the way we are. But in our hearts the Lord is making it very clear; “You can have no part with me until I wash you.” Without regular, daily cleansing, we’re still children of God, but we have no fellowship, joy, or power. We can’t spread the good news of Jesus to others. So, the choice is there for each of us. Jesus is kneeling by our feet – will we let Him wash us clean? Will we join the fellowship that will change people forever?

This is Luis Palau.