New Year Resolution: Pick up the Towel

As the holiday rush just passed by.....with countless hours spent preparing dinners, doing dishes, cleaning up messes, running errands, and the kids are out of school so every day there are more messes than usual, more wet clothes than usual from being outside, more muck and gunck on the floors than usual, and you have cleaned, wiped, swept and washed for what feels like the millionth time in one day, do you begin to feel like a 24 hour a day servant? Do you always do it with a loving and giving heart? Does resentment begin to creep in and show its ugly face? Do you stop doing it altogether, waiting for someone else? Sometimes we need to be reminded. We are doing what Jesus did. We are serving others. If we are called to service by the Master. Pick up the Towel!

John 13:5. As we examine this passage of scripture we see a splendid instance of the humility and servant-leadership of Jesus Christ.

As you are probably aware, it was a custom for a servant to wash the feet of the master of the house, family members or any guests. This job was given to the least of the servants. In this particular instance, in the upper room they were in, there was no servant. There were Jesus, His disciples and dirty feet. There was no servant. No one volunteered. Jesus set the example. In this example, Jesus is not grilling a steak on his grill for the disciples. He is not refilling their glasses with tea. He is performing the lowliest of tasks for them. Read verse 4. Jesus got up from the meal and started to do this. There was no servant here to do this, so what did Jesus do? Jesus grabbed a towel!!! He did not wait, He set to the task immediately.

In verses 12-17, we see the impact that Jesus expects for this to have on us. We see Him defining things for us and helping us to gain a proper perspective for our lives. We know we are to serve others. We know that we are not greater than Him. We will be blessed in doing this.

Have you picked up your towel? When did Jesus tell us it was all right to put down the towel?

When we are in a situation that we see something that needs to be done and no one else is doing it, isn’t it time to pick up our towel?

When there are others in need, pick up the towel! When someone is hurting, pick up the towel! When someone needs your prayers, pick up the towel! When you see a senior adult who needs something done around their home, pick up the towel!

In Romans 12:1, we are told that we are to be a living sacrifice that is acceptable to God. That means we must pick up the towel!!! There is no complicated doctrinal formula here. There is no need for in-depth word studies and studying commentaries. Simply do what Jesus did. Pick up the towel.

Jesus said in verse 12 Jesus asked them, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” Can you see the significance of this? Here is the point that so many miss in this passage. What Jesus did for us was to give us a pattern for success in life. It has been said that if you set your sights to be a leader that your life will be full of disappointment, if you set your sights on being a servant your life will be a happy and fulfilled life that is pleasing to God. It is only as a servant that one can be taken to the upper limits of what God has in store for a believer. Some of the greatest leaders of the Bible are characterized by this quality of servant-leadership style. More important, this was what Jesus set for us as a model for our daily lives. It was so important that He did not leave it as an option for us. He graciously has commanded us all to join in as members of the towel ministry. In this example Jesus has freed us to grow in Him and to experience the joy and freedom that only comes from following him in picking up the towel. You need no musical talent, no PhD, no special credentials, no ordination, and no high and lofty position. You simply have to be willing to serve and to love.

As to the question of when can we lay the towel down?

This can be very brief. There is nowhere in scripture where it says that we are allowed to “throw in the towel”.

There are times when God plants something in your heart and mind that you must do. So I do the only thing that is open to me. I pick up the towel. Sometimes I find I am not picking it up with a loving and giving heart as I should, and that is when I pray.

With a New Year upon us and New Year Resolutions in full swing. Perhaps in addition to the traditions of "I will lose 15 pounds,", "I will not eat an entire box of chocolates at one sitting", "I will visit the gym more often (noticed I said "visit", I have never said "actually go there and work out!") "I will read those books I have piled up on the shelf". Maybe, perhaps, you could make a mindful effort to Pick up the Towel. Not begrudgingly, half-heartedly, or with resentment. But with a loving and giving heart. Just as Jesus has asked. Let us set an example for others. Challenge yourself to pick up your towel and engage yourself.

We all need to pick up our towel, there is work to do!