12When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16Truly, truly, I say to you, a servantis not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. John 13:12-17

There’s nothing like the frustration and exasperation that fills the soul when you know you are living in a customer service nightmare. I hate it when I know I have become just one more beast in the line-up. The company refuses to meet me.

But you and I can do the same thing to people we actually love. Everyday we are tasked with the regular and mundane events of serving people in our homes, schools, and workplaces. How can that moment become something refreshing? How can those regular moments be turned into something Jesus would call a blessing?

Meet the person. Don’t just fill the need. Meet the person. We are in danger of creating our own dignity stripping hell when we just meet the need. Don’t meet needs. Meet the person.

Foot washing is personal. Feet are sensitive. Jesus has given us an example in which we can take the usual tasks of our day and humbly look up to a person and meet them as a precious treasure. In those moments we are positioning them as fantastic people worthy of Jesus’ very life and our interest.

No matter what you do next, refreshing, mind-blowing, heart-lifting service always begins by meeting the person.