In His Footsteps
By Shauna Leis
“’Go,’ the LORD said to me, ‘and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.’ And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
Deuteronomy 10:11-13
Many years ago, when I was a small girl, my family would travel to Florida for a week during the summer. A dear woman at my dad’s church owned a condominium down at a place called Madeira Beach, and she would allow us to stay there for a week to rest and relax as a family. There are so many incredible memories from those trips. But, one of those trips came back to me recently when I was thinking about my walk with God and my relationship with His Son, Jesus.
My father and I love to walk. One year when it was just him, my mom, and me on the trip, we got up very early and walked on the beach together. Dad and I are very similar in so many ways, and our walk is part of that package. We both have this tendency to walk with one foot in front of the other so from a distance it is a single file line. After walking on the beach for hours together, we came back to the condo on the upper floor. We went over to the sliding glass door that went out onto the deck and noticed that you could still see our footprints in the sand as no other soul had been up and moving around at that hour. What we noticed was quite cute to the two of us. It appeared from the upper floor that only one person had been walking. Our steps were so similar and with one foot right in front of the other, even though we had been walking side by side, it appeared that only one of us had been walking.
That is exactly the way that our walk with Jesus should be, too. Our steps should be so similar to His that they are completely undistinguishable. If anyone was looking from up high, he would see one set of footprints – ours interspersed with His. And there would even be times when He carries us in the midst of our circumstances, just like the “Footprints in the Sand” poem by Mary Stevenson records.
Job 23:10-12 says, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to be with us and to be our guide. He will direct each step by leading us in the right direction. We do not have to question if we are going in the correct direction because we only have to follow His feet leading the way. When we are listening to the commands of His words, then our feet will be sure to follow in His way.
So, how do we stay “in step” with God? How do we make sure that we are following in His footsteps and not our own? Galatians 5:24-26 records from Paul, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” To stay in step with Jesus, we have to get rid of our old habits and passions and rely on the Holy Spirit to be our guide.
There are many examples of people who walked with God throughout the history of the Scriptures. But, probably the most notable was Noah. God was so disgusted by that society’s moral depravity that He had decided to remove people from the earth. God’s heart was broken because people had turned their back on Him. However, there was one righteous person found in all of the earth. Genesis 6:8-9 says, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”
Now, I do not know about you, but dear one, when I get to heaven I long to hear those precious words from the Savior’s mouth, “Shauna found favor in the eyes of the LORD, and she walked with God.” I want to be up in heaven, looking down on all my travels throughout this journey called life, and see no difference between my footsteps and the footsteps of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My heart’s desire is that He will direct my footsteps according to His Word. Oh, I do so love Him and cannot wait for the day when I will be with Him for all eternity!
Pray with me: Dear God, I want to be following in Your footsteps. I long for Your Holy Spirit to by my guide each and every step of the way. This journey called life takes so many twists and turns along the way, and our only hope of staying in Your will is to be following Your path. Lord, when looking down from above, let there be no difference between Your steps and mine. Show us righteous examples like Noah that we can also follow along our journey. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ! Amen!