“God Brought Us Together”

What can we learn from foot washing that can help us be a blessing throughout the year?

We’ve just celebrated another New Testament Passover. The first part of this special Christian ceremony is the foot-washing segment. Each year it is emotionally and spiritually moving, and this year seemed particularly so to me.

Have you ever found yourself sitting at Passover service and looking around to try to figure out whose feet you will wash? I confess I have. Sometimes it is the woman sitting next to me in the same row. Other times, it is a lady clear across the hall. I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but this year I’ve pondered whether God has a hand in specifically putting us sisters together to share in this most intimate duty.

Foot-washing time

The time for the foot-washing service to begin arrives. First, the women are dismissed. Picture the ladies filing out by rows and forming one single and solemn line. They are directed to a separate room that has been prepared and set especially for this occasion. The chairs are neatly arranged and spaced so as to give ample room for the ladies to perform this service for one another. Two water-filled basins are stowed underneath each chair.

The ladies in line are paired naturally and easily take their place in a chair or kneel on the floor with a towel in their lap. The lady who is seated first begins taking off her shoes. She gently dips her toes in the water, testing the temperature. Her foot relaxes in the basin as her partner begins to carefully splash water on her bare foot. After sufficient time, her foot is lifted out of the water and onto the fresh towel to be gingerly dried by the washer. Then the other foot is gently washed.

The partners exchange places and the process is repeated. Quite often, the two women hug and genuinely thank each other upon completion.

In talking with ladies afterward, some have told me how each year they record whose feet they washed. They write the name and date on a page in the back of their Bible. I wished I’d had the forethought years ago to keep such a log. It would be nice to remember each lady from year to year. But now, the only thing I can do is concentrate on the lovely young woman who I was partnered with this year.

Thinking of her walk of faith

She happened to be a young mother with a newborn. She was still recovering from the recent childbirth, but she was there before God, taking part in the service. I do know it takes energy, effort and preparation to participate in the Passover service. I wonder what she did that week, last month and the past year to make sure she was at this service to recommit her life to God? What a precious sister!

I’ve been thinking about the foot-washing service. About the sanctity of this rite of a Christian. About the intimacy of such a humble act. As I think back on washing her sweet feet, I thought about her walk of faith.

What is her personal story of faith? I determined to get to know her better in the coming weeks. One verse came to mind in Ephesians 4:2: “Bearing with one another in love.” How can I bear with her in love? How can I be a blessing to this beautiful spiritual sister?

Be a blessing

Here are a few simple ways we can be a blessing to others:

1. Listen to her personal story. How did she come into the truth?
2. Thank God for her. Be specific.
3. Ask God to help us be a blessing. Be open to any opportunity.

So, did God have His hand in putting us sisters together to share in the foot-washing ceremony? Did God actually bring us together?

Someday we’ll be able to ask Him.

At any rate, I encourage us all to take deliberate steps toward being a blessing to another sister in Christ.

Judy Servidio lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Jim. She currently works at a land development company. She is passionate about women helping girls to get an education in developing countries. For the past three years she has worked to make scholarships available to deserving female high school girls in Kenya.