John 13:8, 17 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

I have long loved verse 17 here, but as I was reading, verse eight jumped out at me. As the old hymn asks, “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?” Many people admire Jesus, but they don’t really want Him to clean them up, because they enjoy their sins. In other words, there is no repentance. Jesus is saying flat out, if we don’t repent, we can’t be part of Him. Many people have what the Japanese call a goriyaku religion, meaning they’re in it for what they can get out of it. There are incredible blessings to following Christ, but if the blessings are our only motivation, that doesn’t cut it. That explains what some people consider Jesus’ harshest teaching: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23) We can do all sorts of good things, but without a humble, repentant heart, we have no part in Jesus. When we think we’ve got it all together, that we’ve earned a place in God’s kingdom, that’s precisely the point at which we are most in danger, because we’re trusting ourselves instead of God’s grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 is absolutely no fluke: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Without repentance, there is no salvation. That said, we still have verse 17. Too often we know the right stuff but fail to follow through. We may say yes, yes to the need for repentance, all the while hanging onto a pet sin. We’ve got to ask for, and welcome, Christ’s cleansing, whatever that may mean in our lives. If we will do that, we will be blessed indeed.

This has been the story of my life. I’ve known the right things since I was a child, but countless times I have chosen other things. I am totally dependent on the grace of God, because there is no way I could qualify on my own. Japanese spirituality admires such things as standing under a waterfall for cleansing. You could say the idea is right but the execution is wrong. What we do to ourselves doesn’t really cleanse us; we’ve got to come humbly to Jesus. That’s what He was saying to Peter, and I’ve got to remember it. Standing under a waterfall won’t cleanse me, but one drop of Jesus’ blood will do the trick. I need to walk in the assurance that comes only from humble repentance. If I will do that, I will be blessed beyond words.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all the blessings You have poured out on me all my life. I haven’t earned a one of them, but that’s how You are. May I respond in ever more consistent obedience, saying and doing what You desire at all times, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!