Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:3-5)

In John 13, we read how Jesus modeled servanthood to His disciples by washing their feet. This was an act of service that even the lowliest of servants tried to avoid, yet the Son of the living God was happy to humble Himself and serve His friends in this way.

I think the key to this passage of Scripture is found in verse 3 where John says that Jesus knew that He came from God and He was returning to God. It was the very knowledge that He belonged to His Father that motivated Jesus to do what He did.

He knew that He belonged to His Dad and that His Dad put all things under His power. Jesus was also keenly aware that the greatest in the kingdom would be the servant of all (Matthew 23:11). In Jesus’ own words, He told us that His Father was greater than Himself (John 14:28), so because His Father had a servant’s heart, Jesus too, was happy to take on the form of a servant (Philippians 2:5-8).

Because Jesus knew who He belonged to, what He did, did not define who He was. Because He was the beloved Son of the Father, He could take on the form of the lowliest servant and wash His disciples’ feet. A son knows that he belongs to his father. There is no question of that in the heart of a secure son.

An orphan on the other hand, does not carry within himself the security of knowing who he belongs to. Without knowing that we truly belong to God and are His beloved children, we will tend to try to create a sense of acceptance around us by the things we do. If we are not convinced that we are accepted by being and not doing, then all we have in life is to keep on doing.

And the things that we do will define who we are. I can’t imagine someone that struggles with an orphan heart truly embracing servanthood like Jesus did. Though we might appear like true servants on the outside, if we do not carry the revelation of our Father’s love and acceptance on the inside, the result will be an ongoing pursuit of fulfillment by what we do and not who we are.

In John 17:10, Jesus declares to His Father “All I have is yours and all you have is mine”. This is the cry of a secure son. The truth is that everything that belongs to our heavenly Father belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to us because we are IN Jesus! We don’t have to strive to attain a relationship with our heavenly Father apart from Jesus.

My prayer today is that we would know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we truly belong to our Father in the same way that Jesus knows that He belongs to His Father. As we remember how Jesus humbled himself, washed His disciples’ feet and took our place on the cross, may we have the security of a son, knowing that we truly belong to our God and Father.

(Barry Adams is the humble vessel chosen by God to bless the world with the revelation known as the Father’s Love Letter. Along with his wife Annelise, Barry ministers the Father’s Love all over the world. Today’s DWOD is from a post he wrote for A Son’s Life Blog)