Evening, October 24
Go To Morning Reading
“He began to wash the disciples’ feet.”
John 13:5
The Lord Jesus loves his people so much, that every day he is still
doing for them much that is analogous to washing their soiled feet.
Their poorest actions he accepts; their deepest sorrow he feels; their
slenderest wish he hears, and their every transgression he forgives.
He is still their servant as well as their Friend and Master. He not
only performs majestic deeds for them, as wearing the mitre on his
brow, and the precious jewels glittering on his breastplate, and standing
up to plead for them, but humbly, patiently, he yet goes about among
his people with the basin and the towel. He does this when he puts
away from us day by day our constant infirmities and sins. Last night,
when you bowed the knee, you mournfully confessed that much of your
conduct was not worthy of your profession; and even tonight, you must
mourn afresh that you have fallen again into the selfsame folly and
sin from which special grace delivered you long ago; and yet Jesus
will have great patience with you; he will hear your confession of
sin; he will say, “I will, be thou clean”; he will again apply the blood of sprinkling, and speak peace to
your conscience, and remove every spot. It is a great act of eternal
love when Christ once for all absolves the sinner, and puts him into
the family of God; but what condescending patience there is when the
Saviour with much long-suffering bears the oft recurring follies of
his wayward disciple; day by day, and hour by hour, washing away the
multiplied transgressions of his erring but yet beloved child! To
dry up a flood of rebellion is something marvellous, but to endure
the constant dropping of repeated offences—to bear with a perpetual trying of patience, this is divine indeed!
While we find comfort and peace in our Lord’s daily cleansing, its legitimate influence upon us will be to increase
our watchfulness, and quicken our desire for holiness. Is it so ?