DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Oh God, cover we ask you, with your feathers, all the people of Christ; and keep your church, even until he shall come who, having loved his own that were in the world, loved them even to the end (John 13:1).
We would, each one of us, ask this morning that our feet may be washed. We trust you have bathed us once for all in the sin-removing fountain. You have also washed us in the waters of regeneration, and given us the renewing of our minds through Jesus Christ. But oh, for daily cleansing! Do you see any fault in us?—oh, we know that you do—wash us that we may be clean. Are we deficient in any virtue? Oh, supply it, that we may exhibit a perfect character, to the glory of him who has made us anew in Christ Jesus. Or, is there something that would be good, carried to excess? Be pleased to modify it, lest one virtue should slaughter another, and we should not be the image of Christ completely.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.’ ‘One who has bathed,’ Jesus told him, ‘doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.’” (John 13:9–10)
Then our Savior meekly, gently, quietly explained that there was no need for the washing of his head and his hands, for his whole being had already been renewed by the one great act of regeneration; and as he had been cleansed from sin by the free gift of pardon at the time when he first believed, there was no need of any repetition of the spiritual bathing.
He that believes in Christ is fully forgiven. He is like a man who has gone into the bath, and washed, but, when he steps out of the bath, and puts his foot on the ground, he often soils it, so that, before he robes himself, he needs to wash his feet again. That is our condition as believers in Jesus; we are washed in his precious blood, and are whiter than snow; but these feet of ours constantly touch this defiling earth, so they need every day to be washed.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Know how you were forgiven — be freed from pride and despair.
Today we reflected, in prayer and Bible study, on Jesus’ washing of his disciples feet. This beautiful act was a display of Jesus’ incredible humility, but also a picture of the forgiveness that he would purchase with his blood just a few hours later.
Remembering this truth — that we are forgiven of our sins, washed in the blood of Christ — is a crucial step for finding freedom from legalism, pride, and anxiety. We can know that we are forgiven forever, because it was purchased by Christ himself.
A great book to help you dive deeper into this topic of our forgiveness is Justification by Grace through Faith: Finding Freedom from Legalism, Lawlessness, Pride, and Despair by Brian Vickers. This book walks through the Bible’s teaching on justification and forgiveness in a way that is thoroughly biblical and intensely practical.
The good news that this book contains is just as stunning, just as comforting, and just as necessary as Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. I hope you’ll grab a copy — I know it will bless and encourage you.