Turning 30 in Thailand is a great thing! Especially when you have 6 awesome people to share it with!! My team had the entire day planned out with surprise after surprise!
The day started off with a bus ride to the sky train, the sky train to a boat, and the boat to this massive Buddhist temple place. We left the temple in these really fun taxi’s to a mall/market and ate fantastic Thai food! So… I guess my start to this new decade in my life has not been so bad!
God has been teaching me, though, that even my 30’s I have the grossest feet ever! In John 13:6-8 it says:
When He came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now why I am doing it: someday you will.” “No,” Peter protested, “you will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “But if I don’t wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
God has really revealed a lot about Himself to me in this small passage. He has shown me a lot about myself, too….
I don’t think I ever understood the whole “feet” thing –
until now.
until now.
In Asia, especially Thailand (being predominately Buddhist) the feet are considered unholy. And, I will say that as a world racer – I never knew my feet could become so NASTY!! It’s true… NASTY!! So, as I have been considering “feet”, it made me see Peter in a whole new light. Jesus came to Peter and knelt down to wash His feet, to provide a needed service, to get rid of the dirt… And Peter – seeing Jesus for who He is – Lord of Lords, King of Kings – just could not let His King do this humiliating deed. Jesus’ response was that if Peter first did not let Him serve him, and second allow Him to clean off the filth, then Peter could not belong to Him.
What if your sewer backed up and all the sewer nastiness was oozing out of your tub, sink, toilet… it is running all over the bathroom floor… and not only that but your entire house was beginning to smell! What if in the middle of all that you heard the doorbell ring and when you opened the door – it was Jesus! Yep, Jesus… chariot parked in your drive way… standing there
all fire and glory with a couple angels with Him keeping the “Holy, Holy, Holy” background music going… And after you were done bowing down and trembling in fear you notice that He is holding a bucket, a mop, and cleaning supplies… What would you think? What would you say?
all fire and glory with a couple angels with Him keeping the “Holy, Holy, Holy” background music going… And after you were done bowing down and trembling in fear you notice that He is holding a bucket, a mop, and cleaning supplies… What would you think? What would you say?
I know what I would say… “OH NO! Please No, Jesus! That is not a job for you my King! It is way to nasty and embarrassing! I’ll take care of it… I’ll clean it up…” And that thought has really been rocking my world!! Because that is me! That is what I do… and not just with those I am trying to live in community with but I do this to Jesus… I try to hide all my nastiness because it is just to dirty, to stinky, to humiliating… But all the while Jesus just wants to clean it up and take care of it for me so I can be
more like Him – so I can be closer to Him – belong to Him…
more like Him – so I can be closer to Him – belong to Him…
my Thai birthday dinner
I want that more than anything – to be more like Jesus. I want to be closer to Him. I want to belong to Him. And, if that means letting the Creator of the Universe come and mop up my nastiness – well then so be it!!
“Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” John 13:9
below was the message that was on the inside of the taxi!
