Footprints in the Snow, Part 1
Running is one of my favorite means of stress management. It’s a time of
physically “burning” off any negative emotions, it’s a bonding time between
my dog and me, and, most importantly, it’s a time of reflection, a time for
me to be alone with my maker. And this morning was no exception. It was
Saturday, and though it was nearly 8:00 a.m., the sun was barely an orange
streak in the eastern sky. A tribute to the time of year, I thought, to the
fact that the winter equinox was just days away.
My route took me into the local cemetery, and as I snapped off my dog’s
leash, she charged away to race among the trees and tombstones. Of all the
places she loves to run, this is definitely her favorite! The sun was a
little higher in the sky by now, and I could clearly see the path in front
of me. There was just a dusting of snow on the road, but I couldn’t be
bothered to remember when it had fallen.
As I rounded the curve at the back of the cemetery, a line of shoe and dog
tracks caught my attention. At first I guessed that someone had been there
ahead of me that morning. I smiled at the fact that anyone else would be as
crazy as I am, to be out this early on a Saturday when it was –15º C. But
then I remembered that the sun was just coming up. Surely no one else had
already been in the cemetery THIS morning!
As my sleepy brain worked a little farther, I realized that we hadn’t had
any new snow since the previous night. I stared the footprints some more. I
had been in the cemetery the day before. Was it possible that they were
MINE?
I slowed my steps and stooped to examine them. They were about the same size
as my shoe, but I had no idea what kind of a track my running shoes left.
When I tried to place a new track beside the old one, I found that the snow
was currently too cold to form one!
I idly pushed it all from my mind. I needed to get back home. I had started
out later than I liked to start, and my mother-in-law in Europe would be
calling soon. But as I rounded another bend in the road, the footprints
again caught my attention. For some reason I stopped and looked behind me.
This time I noticed a second line of tracks that had formed beside the first
ones. Today’s? But my feet weren’t making footprints in the snow today! Sure
enough, however, the tracks ended exactly where I stood. Without further
thought, I bent down to examine the two sets. They were identical. The
footprints I had been following were my own from the previous day.
I chided myself gently at this point for wasting time in such a manner, and
I forced myself to run on; but when I still couldn’t get those footprints
out of my mind, I slowly began to realize that this unnatural fascination
with a set of indentations in the snow was too ridiculous to be coming from
me. I looked up into the now-orange sky. “What is it, Lord?” I whispered.
“What are you trying to tell me?”
The answer was immediately impressed upon my mind: I need to leave
footprints everywhere I walk. But not ones made by my running shoes. The
footprints I need to leave on people’s lives are “Jesus” footprints! People
need to be able to SEE that I know Jesus. I need to shine for Jesus in EVERY
interaction.
Tears threatened to brim over, but I dared not cry—not with the icy westerly
wind blowing directly into my face! I quickly wiped them dry on my sleeve,
and my words bubbled out instead: “Oh Lord, may my life be such that others
will see YOU shining out of me! May I so touch the lives of others with YOUR
love, that tracks—YOUR tracks!—will be left in the snow!”
How is your walk through life, my friend? Are you leaving lasting “Jesus”
footprints along your paths? If not, then let your prayer be the same as
mine: “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16).
Please see Thursday's edition of The Nugget for the second in this 3-part series, Footprints in the Snow.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org ,