Service with a smile

So he [Jesus] got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. | John 13:4-5 (NLT)

When I read this passage and I am always struck by how the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one who left the majesty of heaven, the one who is the Lord of Heaven’s armies firstly came to earth, and secondly bent down to serve His disciples. He took the lowest of jobs and served.

I read it again, before writing this, and realised that Jesus did this when He knew that His time on earth was short and that one of His own was going to betray Him, and yet He still served. I know that if I was in His position serving would be the last thing on my mind!

I started thinking about how often Jesus wants to serve us and we refuse, we think we can do it on our own, that we do not need any help. Like Peter we refuse His help. We try to be self sufficient and independent, yet, this is not what we are called to.

We are called to be dependent both on Him and also on each other. God’s way of serving us is often through each other, we have to allow others to serve us just as much as we serve them. For myself I often refuse help for all sorts of reasons most of which boil down to pride. I often refuse to ask for help because I think I can do it on my own and yet we must learn both to serve, which I sometimes find easy, and to be served which I find much less easy.