Need to Wash More Often

I was thinking about this the other day: How often do towels need to be laundered? I’m pretty sure the towel I’ve been using lately hasn’t been washed for, well, a while. And whether this is good or bad I don’t know, but I’m okay with it. It’s not like I’m using it to wipe off muddy boots or something.

Actually my wife does most of the laundry in our house, and there’s a good chance that she’s washed this particular towel a time or two without my knowledge. Which leads me to say I’m thankful, very thankful, for all that she does in managing our household affairs. I’ll put it this way: if it were up to me to get the towels washed, the Cubs would have a better chance of winning the World Series before I got around to it.

It’s probably not every day. Just like you don’t have to get your oil changed every day. It wouldn’t hurt anything, and it might be a little helpful to your car’s engine to change it every day. But you can go for a while using the same oil. You can go for a while using the same towel. Three months or three thousand miles sounds about right, whichever comes first.

But you can’t go that long without needing the forgiveness of your sins that Jesus provides. I know that my heart needs to be cleansed daily from the stains of sin. And yours does, too.

Jesus taught this truth to His followers in the familiar account of when He washed the feet of the disciples (John 13). He knew that His hour had come, and on the eve of His crucifixion on the cross Jesus showed them the full extent of His love. He rose from the supper table, laid aside His outer garments, wrapped a towel around His waist, poured water into a basin, began to wash His disciples’ feet and dried them with the towel.

I imagine you could have heard a pin drop. This was not a job for a King. In fact it was usually reserved for the lowest slave on the totem pole to wash the feet of the guests in the home. Surely the thought of any one of the disciples doing this job never entered their minds. They were probably shocked when their Master took on this task. But such is the love and humility of Christ for the world!

But there’s a sudden break in the silence when Jesus gets ready to wash Peter’s feet. Peter blurts out, “Lord, You’re not going to wash my feet, are you?” Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me.” To which Peter mistakenly answers, “Then, don’t wash just my feet, wash my hands and head, as well.” Jesus then says, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

What does this curious conversation tell us? Obviously there’s more to it than wiping dust off of a guy’s feet. Jesus is talking about sin and the need to be cleansed from it.

On one hand the footwashing symbolizes the cleansing that is necessary for the forgiveness of our sins. The old hymn says it well: “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!” It was during that supper later that Jesus took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to His followers, saying “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28). Jesus death on the cross washes our sins away. Unless we’ve come to Him in repentance and faith to receive this cleansing for our sins, then we have no part with Him, we do not belong to Him and have no salvation.

Jesus then applies this footwashing in another way. Peter wanted the full works deal, but the Lord told him he was already clean. He had already been bathed, that is forgiven, saved and justified by God’s grace through his faith. He didn’t need to be saved again from sin’s penalty, but He did need to be cleansed from sin’s staining effects from walking along dusty roads. The full bathing pictures being born again, while the need to wash regularly symbolizes forgiveness for ongoing sinful actions.

The good news is that you can be cleansed from your sins today, friend. If you’re already saved, you don’t need to be resaved, but you do need to keep coming to Christ for the forgiveness and cleansing He offers. Three months or three thousand miles is too long to wait. If you’re not saved, you need the bath of confessing your sins and turning your life over to Christ as Savior and Lord. Why not receive Him today?