By: Maggie Morrison
The Bible is full of strong, obedient women who loved God. Mary, Esther, and Ruth are just a few. These women are examples of unwavering faith and teach us about living out our God given identities. I love these stories and draw so much inspiration for who I want to become, but today I don’t want to talk about these women. Today, I want to wash the feet of Jesus. You see, although I desire to be like Esther, most days I feel far inferior. Most days I yell at my kids when they don’t deserve it. I look to my husband for validation that can only come from Jesus, and, yes, some days I feel like Jesus gets the last little bit of me after I’ve taken care of everyone else. To be honest, some days I’m lucky if I get to take an uninterrupted shower where I can pray. While I admire these strong women in the Word, I have come to see that they weren’t great because of what they did. These women were great because of whose feet they washed.
Luke 7:37-38 (NIV) says, “A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.”
As I read this passage, I didn’t understand what God was wanting me to see. Why was I being called back to this repeatedly? God was trying to show me something, and I begged him for the answer. It was then the tears streamed down my face as I poured out to Jesus, “Let me be this woman! Let me be this woman!” So many times we miss it. This woman was so desperate for Jesus that she washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. This woman washed the feet of Jesus with her tears. Did you get that? Have you ever washed the feet of Jesus?
Nothing else matters if we don’t know how to be this woman.
If we are not at the feet of Jesus, then we are simply the Pharisee who believed inviting Jesus to dinner at his house was enough. The Pharisee thinks to himself in verse 39, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Thank you, Jesus for allowing me to take the position at your feet. I know where I have been, and I don’t deserve such a place of honor. May my tears be an offering as sweet as the alabaster perfume, and may my hair be found worthy to dry your wet feet.
Let us work diligently toward the good works God has called us to, but let us never forget to first be this woman.
