October 9, 2017 - Lose the Shoes (Footprints)

After a game we can look at a box score to get an idea of how players did in statistical categories, yet it doesn’t always tell the whole story about players that made differences in non-statistical ways. These are the players that set the screens to free up a scorer; the players that boxed out so their teammates could get a rebound; the linemen that opened up the holes for the star running backs or created a wall to protect the star quarterback; etc. I think you get the picture… there is a lot involved in the team being successful.

One of the ways we do get to through game film… (which I have admitted in past devotions that I hated… my pride didn’t like that fact that the film often showed I wasn’t as good as I thought.) But if one would watch it to re-trace his steps, he could see if he was in the right places at the right times…

In life, we don’t have the benefit of game film… but what if we could retrace our steps? What if we could see our footprints left behind? Where would these “footprints” show we have been… both literally in the places we visited, and figuratively of the places we went to in our minds?

I’ve recently been working on ideas with our ministry’s Lose the Shoes outreach. In this ministry we typically key on the act of giving shoes for those in need; our logo shows footprints where the back foot is the tread of a shoe and the front print is of a bare foot… a progression… a change…

As I contemplated the logo this weekend I thought about the idea of footprints and looked at the following: In Exodus 3:5 God tells Moses to go barefoot… pointing out the privilege and honor Moses had of being on holy ground. Moses lost his shoes in reverence of God! We also see in Scripture that feet are beautiful when they carry good news (see Isaiah 5:7.)

Because of what Christ has done, we have constant access to holy ground… the throne of grace. I believe maturity is when we live our daily lives in recognition of being in the presence of God.

In a nutshell, I want to ask each of you to examine what your “footprints” show about your day…. And here is the hope I wrote down this weekend:

Footprints: The prints left behind can give vital evidence… They show where you have been and give an indication of where you are going… when others look at the evidence of your footprints I hope they will say, “As he walked into the presence of God, God directed his path to those in need!”

I’m reminded of a song from years ago by Steve Green. He sang, “may the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe…”

Lose the shoes! Walk/live in God’s presence! Meet the needs of others!