3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
John 13:1-17
The scripture above seems to contradict many things we learn in this world. It seems the disciples should have been the ones washing the feet of Jesus; yet, the Lord initiated a process that must have shocked everyone in the room. This display of servitude was not even the most outrageous activity He would perform during that period. A short time later, He would give His life so that you and we would be considered worthy to call upon His name.
Growing up in a house where my parents had leadership roles in our local church, pitching in and serving was not really a choice, it was an expectation. Our entire family cleaned the church, setup before services, packed up after services and also helped during the services. When I became older and moved away, I “subconsciously” decided to take a break. It was never anything I planned; but in retrospect, I see where I had the mindset that I had probably done enough serving and it was time to allow others to do their part. However, deep down, I knew that mindset was not following the example of Jesus.
I remember the many occasions my late father took time to remind us of how blessed we are to be able to serve the Lord and how important it is to love God and to show that love to all those we come across. He would remind us that our lives were to be lived with purpose, and that purpose should ultimately bring glory to God. These lessons have been further augmented in my life by messages/teachings from leaders like Pastor Dennis Rouse of Victory Church and Pastor Ron Nelson of Eastgate Church.
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:37-40
When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, it wasn’t even close to the show of love, mercy and grace that He later displayed when He sacrificed Himself for us. He clearly showed us that loving and serving all those around us should be priority.
How then, can we be too busy to serve each other? How can we be so preoccupied with things of this world that we neglect Kingdom business?
The Savior whose sacrifice has brought us life only requests that we do the following:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:28-34
One of the most important lessons I have learned is that it is paramount to position one’s heart to serve, love and give. Something truly wonderful happens when we calibrate our hearts to beat with a similar rhythm to our Savior. Jesus sacrificed His life for us not out of obligation but as a demonstration of the lengths that God is willing to go to show His love for us. We were all created with purpose by an omniscient God who desires to connect with each and everyone of us, and longs for our hearts to align with His.
The desire to create churchscheduling.com came from a place of purpose and servitude. The goal is to provide volunteers with a tool that would allow them to serve but still maintain some control over their schedules. It has always been important to us that this application is accessible to all organizations who are interested in providing flexible scheduling for their volunteers. We hope and pray that it is serving that purpose for all who use it.
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