When I started thinking about using ‘footprints’ as a theme for this letter, I had feet in mind, but by far the biggest hit on the internet about footprints was about our carbon footprint, the damage that we do to our world through pollution etc. Then that got me thinking about what we do with our lives whilst we’re here, living on earth, and that quote from a song by John Kay, ‘take nothing but pictures leave nothing but footprints,’ kept running through my mind, so I started to thinking about it a bit more… ‘take nothing but pictures…’ I know what the writer of those words is getting at, meaning don’t pick flowers etc. which would spoil things for others following us.
But how many of us only take pictures of life without really getting involved in what’s happening before us; watching life stream past us like rain running down a window pane? A Christian author, Anne Long, describes time as being measured not only in length, but also in depth! And she’s right! It’s not just about the length of time we spend here on earth, it’s also about the depth of time, the quality of what we do whilst we’re here that also counts; the depth of our experiences, the depth of our relationships.
Do our footprints of life go off into the distance in a straight line, or do they meander, touching and experiencing life to the full, because that’s why Jesus said He came to earth; to bring us life and life to the full! He said in John 10:10; ‘I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.’ [The Message] Are you living your life in 2 dimensions when you could be
living in 3 dimensions? We shouldn’t just be on-lookers of life, but active participants!
And what about the second part of the quote… ‘leave nothing but footprints?’
Are footprints all we leave? Is not the way we behave and the way we treat others more lasting than footprints?
What’s going to be your legacy to the earth and to others? Hopefully when we look back over our lives it won’t just be footprints we see, but remnants of a good life led, a life of encouragement, generosity, goodness and love.
But maybe, as you think of your past, you haven’t just left footprints, but a legacy of hurt, despair and pain?
Well, you can change that too. Because if we correct our present, then that will change our futures, and
consequently, our pasts in that future!
So how do we change?
We change by walking with Jesus. By following in His footsteps, by copying His example of how we should live and how we should interact with others as we journey through life.
And the closer we walk with Jesus; the fuller life will be! There is an old Jewish blessing that says; ‘May you be covered by the dust of your Rabbi.’ So, the image here is of us, His followers, walking so close behind Jesus that we become covered in the dust that His sandals kick up. Now that’s following closely!
So, don’t just skim through life, realise the depth of time, as well as the length. Follow Jesus closely, and you will live life to the full!
Every blessing,
Pastor Steve