Leaving Footprints

I often play a silly game.
I play it in the snow.
I play it in the rain.
I play it in the sand.

I like to leave footprints.
It’s not that I’m intentional about leaving the footprints.
They just happen naturally.
I am intentional about walking in them once I’ve left them.

During our snowy winter, I would leave footprints down the driveway as I got the paper.
I walked in those same footprints all the way back to my house.
It is hard to do, since my footprints were going in the opposite direction.
I would try just the same.

It was the principle of the thing.
New fallen snow, pristine, not a footprint in sight.
Clean, soft sand where no one has walked.
Puddles just waiting for a good stomping, ready to leave watery footprints behind.

Footprints.
Evidence that you have been there.
Evidence of motion.
Footprints left for someone else to follow.

We have all seen the quintessential picture.
I have some of my own.
A little boy wearing his daddy’s shoes.
They are too big; his feet all but disappearing in the massive shoes.

It doesn’t matter.
They are his daddy’s shoes.
He clomps around and falls a few times.
But he is walking; walking in something he is not ready for, yet.

He will be ready soon enough.
He will spend years watching his daddy walk in those shoes.
He will have years walking in the footprints his daddy left.
Many times he will walk in a different direction, but the path always leads home.

It is daunting to think that our footsteps are being followed.
That knowledge should make us realize that we cannot do this life alone.
We need help and guidance as we walk.
We need to walk in such a way that we would not be ashamed if someone followed us.

Though it is a daunting task; it matters who we are following.
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
That should be our GPS.
God Positioning System.

Following Him so closely that we want others to follow us.
We want them to follow us because we are following Him.
Ultimately, they will learn to follow Him on their own.
Then, they in turn, will have people begin to follow them.

That is discipleship.
I once walked where you are walking.
I have been in your shoes.
My shoes may not fit you now, but by the grace of God, they will.

Direct my footsteps according to Your Word; let no sin rule over me. (Psalm 119:133)

Following so closely that after a while, we simply fade from view.
We want to fade from view so that all they will see is Him.
We want to walk in such a way so that we lead them right to Christ.
They follow us closely and then we get out of the way.

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet Him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him…(Mark 5:1-6)

The demon possessed man of the tombs needed footprints to follow.
He left his own footprints as he roamed the hills.
However, they were all over the place with no direction, no movement.
He needed to follow someone closely and be led to Christ.

Who better to follow than Jesus Himself?
Like the little boy who cannot fit into his daddy’s shoes, so the man of the tombs.
So, all of us.
We need to grow into the shoes of Christ.

That does not happen through any work of our own.
It happens when we obediently walk in His footsteps.
Closely.
Intentionally.

When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what happened to the demon-possessed man…Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with Him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:15-20)

Once you follow Jesus’ footsteps, you must help others learn to follow Him as well.
It would be very comfortable to walk along in those mighty footsteps.
Sure of the direction, certain of the movement.
But it isn’t about staying comfortable.

It is about telling others how much the Lord has done for us.
It is about telling others about His mercy.
It is about walking in such a way that we lead them to Christ.
It is about fading from view so all they will see is Him.

We all leave footprints.
We all have walked where others are walking.
Let’s help them walk and then get out of the way.