As with most couples, we have a list of shared, favorite movies. It’s the same with close friends. We often quote lines from these movies to each other when they fit a circumstance in our lives. Maybe we’re just weird, but it’s a kind of verbal intimacy. Can you guess the following three movies just from these brief quotes? No Googling!
Movie 1: “Inconceivable!” “As you wish…” “No more rhymes, now I mean it!” “Anybody want a peanut?”
Movie 2: “I can’t put my arms down!” “You used up all the glue on purpose!” “Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense.”
Movie 3: “No one follows us or I kill myself and then her.” “With me…without me…with me…without me…with me…without me…” “Someday. That’s a dangerous word. It’s really just a code for ‘never.”
No worries if you missed any; I’m sure you have your own list. My point is that with just the smallest amount of information, we can recall something good that we shared with someone, and we can refresh each other. Yes, you read that correctly. Sharing can be refreshing. With most of us being connected to the world 24×7 via Facebook, X (Twitter), Pinterest, not to mention Zoom, work emails, texts, and so on, this vast connectivity drains us. As Christians, it puts “dust on our feet.” The dust isn’t sin, it’s worldliness from living in the world.
To bring this into focus, here is one example: You have your morning prayer time, read a devotional, and feel closeness with your Savior. Then, you dash off to work. As you drive, you begin putting your work face on. All day long, you are immersed in the problems of this world; they’re not sins, just not ones that draw you to God. Finally, you begin your decompression drive home, only to step into the world of home problems.
The closeness you had with Jesus that morning has waned. If you have an evening prayer time, you may come before God with a cluttered mind. It’s difficult to refocus on what is really important; eternally important. How uplifting it would have been if, during your day, a fellow Christian had just spoken a word of encouragement, a verse, or said, “The Lord may come today.” If you could have shared a moment of mutual refreshing with a fellow brother or sister in the Lord, your day would have been better.
When we read John 13:1-17, when Jesus washed the feet of His chosen disciples, we nearly always focus on the big parts, like washing the dust of the world off, and so forth. But, there’s also an aspect that is taught less often, that of mutual refreshing. In the culture of that day, washing the feet of a guest was an expected courtesy; it was refreshing.
Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and then said go and do likewise. We, as Christians, are to be a source of refreshing, especially to other Christians. And, that refreshing can be as simple as sharing something we have in common through Christ Jesus. So, as Jesus said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:17)”, go and do likewise.
Answers to the movie trivia: 1) The Princess Bride 2) A Christmas Story 3) Knight and Day
Photo by Simson Petrol on Unsplash