⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Peter has been much maligned by Christians for his impetuousness, and this may not be altogether misplaced. However, we must tread carefully lest we inadvertently judge ourselves in the process. To be sure Peter tended to either lag behind Jesus or sprint ahead. His impulsive resistance to the foot-washing turned to a knee-jerk over-embrace. “If Jesus thinks I am not following along with Him, then I’ll not only embrace what He is doing but add some of my own improvements.” He wasn’t thinking too deeply at this point, but you can’t fault him for his loyalty, bungling as it was.

Sometimes in our desire as Christians to be loyal to Christ, we vacillate to the extremes. How many of us have with heartfelt conviction asserted ourselves in a renewed commitment to one or more of the spiritual disciplines, proclaiming (at least to ourselves) that now we are going to take our faithfulness to new levels. That New Year’s promise to read my Bible every day for 30 minutes (or there about), begins to waffle at the three week mark. Our vow to tell someone about Christ every week, falls off target quickly. Our resolution to bring our eating under control by adding a day of fasting once a week, loses its thrust after one or two efforts. We either sprint out full speed ahead, or we lag behind—neither of which keeps pace with the Lord’s work in our life.

We easily make promises we cannot keep, offering to the Lord more than He has asked for. What we really need is to allow the Lord to wash our feet on a regular basis. That means coming to Him for daily forgiveness for sins, just like we take care of our personal grooming every morning. We need the cleansing of Christ in our lives, much as the people walking on the dry, dusty roads of the first century needed their feet washed on a regular basis.

Some Christians fall into abject confession of the same things over and over again, taking even this to an extreme. It is as if every sin uncovers the defeating thought that all previous confessions weren’t enough, that the person needs to confess their sinfulness all over again. Yes, while we continue to sin (see John 1:8), we have already, as genuine Christians, been cleansed from our eternal sin and our salvation is secured. All the sins that condemn us have been washed away in the one time spiritual baptism when we were redeemed, the event of which water baptism is a symbol. But our daily sins which hinder not our salvation, but our fellowship with the Lord, need daily confession and forgiveness. Faith in salvation breeds faith in forgiveness daily.

Lord, I confess my daily sins to You and believe You forgive me for every one.