Evening, October 24, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“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 weakest actions he accepts; their deepest sorrow he feels; their slightest 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 crown on his brow, and the precious jewels glittering on his breastplate, and standing up to plead for them, but humbly, patiently, he even 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 to pray, you sorrowfully confessed that much of your conduct was not worthy of your profession; and even tonight, you must mourn anew that you have fallen again into the identical 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 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 a gracious endurance there is when the Savior with much patience bears the oft reoccurring follies of his wayward disciple; day by day, and hour by hour, stooping down to wash away the multiplied transgressions of his erring but yet beloved child! To dry up a flood of rebellion is something marvelous, but to endure the constant dripping 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 enliven our desire for holiness. Is it so?