The Need For Resolutions
by Randy Robison
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Romans 12:2a)
It’s that day again. The one where people make the same tired resolutions that they failed to keep in years past. Stop smoking, lose weight, start exercising, eat better, pray more, blah blah blah…
Benjamin Franklin said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. So why is it that human beings tend to get stuck in this cycle of making the same resolutions year after year, but never following through with them? Are we all insane?
At the Last Supper, Jesus made a poignant statement about the importance of servanthood when he washed the feet of his disciples. But against the backdrop of the middle-eastern culture, another truth was illustrated.
The land in which Jesus walked was hot, dusty and dry. The streets were filled with animal and human waste. The tables on which Jesus and His disciples ate were close to the floor and surrounded by pillows, not chairs. This meant that diners reclined at the table, with their feet stretched out very near the next person.
When the disciples came to the Upper Room, knowing they were to recline at the table with Jesus, there was no servant at the door to tend to the customary washing of the guests’ feet. The disciples, however, were too worried about more important things than the duties of a lowly servant. Jesus had foretold his departure and the twelve followers were concerned with things holding far greater ramifications than some unwashed feet.
But Jesus insisted that their feet be washed. "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me,” he told Peter.
"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"
Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet.” (John 13)
It is impossible to walk in this world without getting our feet dirty. Even though we have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, we still have contact with the filth and grime of the place in which we live. As we walk through life each day, concerned with things of great importance to us, some of the world’s dirt sticks to us. But if we allow Jesus to “wash our feet,” then we will be able to fellowship with Him.
This washing is a daily necessity. It is a resolution we make when we wake up each morning and renew every night when we go to sleep. God never called us to avoid walking through the grime of this world. But he does call us to daily cleansing through such things as confession, prayer, and Bible study.
So as others make the same vain New Year’s resolutions, determine to get a daily foot wash, figuratively speaking, from the One who washes away every unclean thing, because if we think we’re going to fellowship with Jesus Christ with stinking feet, we really are insane.
This Week
Read John 13 and ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding of the “foot washing” principle. Allow the Lord to cleanse you from the stains of the world every single day.
Prayer
“God, thank you for the humility of Jesus Christ to serve those of us soiled by the world and wash away the sin that keeps us from complete fellowship with You. Forgive me of my sins, wash me in your Spirit, and help me to walk in Your path today, tomorrow and every day.”
