The Servant - By Johnny King

THE SERVANT


I could never forget the shame I felt when I discovered it was Jesus who had washed my feet.

We were all arguing about who was the greatest among us, vigorously defending our right to the best positions in the coming kingdom. When someone came sliding along the floor to wash my feet I never gave it a second thought, assuming it was the household servant. It was Peter who realized it first, and drew our attention to Him in his usual emotional outburst. While we were all occupied with pride and arrogance, fussing and fighting about place and position, Jesus, the Master was on the floor washing our feet.

How could we have been so stupid and insensitive? He had just told us that He was about to be betrayed by one of us, that He would suffer and His blood would be shed. But instead of thinking of Him in His time of greatest need we thought only of ourselves and our own selfish desires.

When He was through and had sat back down at the table He told us that we should wash each other's feet. He said that He had given us an example so that we would do as He had done to us and that we would be happy if we did.

After He left and then I received His spirit, I wanted to be more like Him. I began to wash feet. Whenever I had the opportunity I would wash someone's feet. At first my friends made fun of me. They suspected my motives. But as I continued, most of them learned to accept me and many came to expect it. They took for granted that I would wash their feet. I did. Some people felt that I owed it to them. I felt that I owed it to Jesus.

It was not always easy to wash feet. I was accustomed to looking at people eye to eye, not eye to toe. It took quite an attitude adjustment. I had to overcome the bad feelings I felt when washing the feet of someone who did not appreciate what I was doing. Sometimes I would get a kind word but most often I would not. I had trouble with the feet of those who treated me like a servant until I accepted the fact that I was a servant.

It became a way of life for me. My hands became soft and always seemed to be clean. It seemed to me that my heart stayed soft and clean also. I discovered that it's hard to argue on your knees. It's also more difficult to be proud.

I thought I had finally lost all my pride and was truly a servant and could sincerely wash anybody's feet. But then I came to some feet that were so dirty and so stained that I was repulsed. I'd washed dirty feet before, but these seemed virtually caked with rust. They looked as though they had walked around the world bare. The filth of centuries seemed to cling to them. These were obviously the feet of one much lower than I.

Pride that I didn't know I had rose up within me. Feelings that I thought were long dead let me know they were alive and well. I was shocked at my own reaction to these filthy feet. Old familiar feelings stirred in me and jogged my memory. I had a sense of déjà vu.

I was back in the old room, sitting at the table. I was vigorously defending my right to the best and highest position. I was arguing with the others about who was the greatest. Then I discovered Jesus had washed my feet as I jostled for position.

All my shame came flooding back. Red faced and teary eyed I knelt and touched the dirty feet. Remembering that Jesus, my master had washed my feet while I was consumed with pride and arrogance, I began to scrape at the substance that was caked on these feet. Soon the water in the basin was stained a dirty, rusty brown. Slowly the true color of the feet began to emerge.

One stubborn spot would not come clean. I lifted the foot from the brackish water. I wiped the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand so I could better see. I rubbed the spot on the foot. I splashed water over it. Then, more gently I touched it. A scar ...

I reached for the other foot, a matching scar. Gasping, I looked up - into the face of, Jesus! He was smiling. He said, "Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many. Enter into the joy of your Lord." Luke 22:24-27 John 13:4-17

*Carrots, Eggs & Coffee*

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee… You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’

‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level?
How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you; to those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.

*May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!!*