I walk about 10 miles each morning. Until the weather turned bad the last couple weeks, I was able to vary my route from day to day. Now I have to be content to walk around the shopping center across the street. Their walkways and parking lot are generally plowed.
This morning I noticed something about my footprints in the snow. On the fourth time around the center I could see that I was not consistent in where I stepped. Sometimes I would veer off to the left and sometimes I would veer to the right. I had no easy explanation as to why I didn’t keep walking straight. Did I see something interesting to the left and I was drawn that direction. Perhaps I saw danger (i.e. a car) approaching and veered right.
That got me thinking about the footprints we leave in life. Are we always heading straight to our goals, or do we veer right or left unintentionally at times? Does advertising or the media sway our interest and take us off course? Furthermore, would we want anyone to follow our footprints?
The writer of Hebrews gives us the solution when he writes, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith. ” The key to walking straight in life is to fix our eyes on Jesus, getting rid of the things that make us stumble or get off track. Walking straight to Jesus lays down footprints that we would be happy that others should follow.
Reluctant Retiree 