“Plant thy foot firmly in the prints which His foot has made before thee.” ~ Joseph Barber Lightfoot
As soon as I saw today’s quote, I started singing to myself the song from The Ocean: Put Your Hand in the Hand. It was a very upbeat song that reminded us to “Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water. Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea. Take a look at yourself and a you can look at others differently by puttin’ your hand in the hand of the man from-a Galilee.”
And now, if I’ve done my job right — and if you’re of my generation — you’re singing that wonderful song to yourself as well. Come to think of it, if you’ve never heard it, Google it. You won’t be disappointed and it goes with today’s reflection.
Lightfoot encourages us to follow in the footsteps of the Lord. That is a very good thing to say as we all need the reminder. However, it is also pretty difficult to do, as all of us could admit. The footsteps of the Lord take us through rather rough terrain: mercy, forgiveness, kindness, and love.
What?! How could I call mercy, forgiveness, kindness, and love “rough terrain”? If you want an explanation, I would first have to tell you to live those before asking for the explanation. If you attempt to live mercy, forgiveness, kindness, and love — to their fullest — you will realize that they are not easy to do.
They might be easy to practice toward those whom we like. However, the Lord wants us to apply the same practice to all people, those we like and those we don’t, the good as well as the bad, and the saved as well as the lost.
We can’t do it on our own. It is only with the grace of God that we will be able to embody the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus and to love all people as He loves us. That is why we have to walk in the footsteps of the Lord. If you find it difficult to do, reach out and take His hand.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God to give you the graces that you need to follow in the footsteps of His Son today.