Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” —John 13:8

There is a tenderness in John 13 that still disarms me. Jesus bends low, bowl in hand, and says to Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.”

It is not a threat; it is an invitation into intimacy. A beckoning. A holy insistence that relationship with Him requires letting Him touch the places we would rather keep hidden, dusty, and unbothered.

To “have part with Him” is not earned through effort. It is received through letting Him minister to us. It begins by sitting still while He kneels before us.

Sit with Me, and I will make you clean.
Stay with Me, and I will make you whole.
Be still, and I will make you Mine.

A PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Jesus, I come to You and sit at Your feet.
I yield my striving, my self-scrubbing, my restless attempts to be enough.
Wash me again—my thoughts, my motives, my inner life.
Sanctify me in Your presence, as I sit here with You.
Teach me to honour the rest that makes space for Your hands.
May I live as one who has a part with You, not by my merit but by Your mercy.
Amen.