Going the Distance

9/11/2020

John 13:14 “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

Every year, this date hits me and brings me back to that horrible day when my country was viciously attacked. Hate is the most destructive thing in this world, and is a motivator for far too many people. We are experiencing hate and conflict right now in our country, with division and infighting in so many areas. Even the church is not immune to such discord. It is truly heartbreaking to see how far we have devolved since we all pulled together after that awful day 19 years ago. There was no “yours” or “mine”, but “ours”. We came together as a nation and mourned, supported, loved, and helped one another. Why does something traumatic have to happen before we can really love and appreciate one another? Why can’t we see each other all as children of God? In this time of insulation, anger, and fear, where has love for our neighbor gone?

Chambers writes, “The things that Jesus did were of the most menial and commonplace order, and this is an indication that it takes all God’s power in me to do the most commonplace things His way.” Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as an example to us that nothing should be too small or menial for us to do, especially for another person. Why, then, is kindness so difficult? Why is love so difficult? I am not being asked to wash the feet of my neighbor, but would I if I were asked? Would I feel it was an act that is beneath me? If it was not beneath my Savior, the lowliest task should never be below me. What is God calling me to do now, in this moment in time? What is He asking of all of His children?

Chambers writes, “We have to go the ‘second mile’ with God. Some of us get played out in the first ten yards, because God compels us to go where we cannot see the way, and we say—‘I will wait till I get nearer the big crisis.’ If we do not do the running steadily in the little ways, we shall do nothing in the crisis.” In this current crisis, have I gassed out in the first ten yards, or will I allow God to help me go the distance for Him?