I was pondering my shoes the other day after a walk. They are looking worn, and quite dirty. I thought about when I bought them, where they have been, what they have experienced, and the fact that they have traversed many parts of Zambia.
These shoes. These shoes that were bought on sale at REI before my first trip to Zambia in 2008. I thought to myself at the time, that I hoped to have occasions to wear them besides on this one trip to Africa. Little did I know they would find themselves on my feet in Africa for the next 9 years. These shoes have climbed up on top of walls to place brick for orphan homes. They have walked alongside women and girls, listening to their stories and hearing their hurts. These shoes have marched into the darkness of the night and onto the streets where girls and women are exploited. They have shuffled through the red dirt of Zambia and plowed through the African bush. Shoes to help me move and stay in motion.
Motion. If we don’t ever get up and get going we will never go out from where we are. We have to move to get near other people. To be in relationship with those God is calling us to. An anonymous quote says it all, “We cannot expect the Lord to guide our footsteps if we’re not willing to move our feet.”
As our Lord did in his last days, we must not shy away from walking down the road to Jerusalem. Jesus was aware of the road that lay before Him. He was not deterred. He kept moving toward it. His feet kept walking. I wonder if Jesus ever thought about the comfy KEEN shoes he could have had if He had come to earth a tad later! But regardless, He did not wait for the Father to pick Him up and move Him supernaturally to Jerusalem, He was always on His way there, on mission. John Piper states this from a sermon in 2002, “When Jesus says, ‘Follow me,’ and says it in the context of going to Jerusalem and having just been rejected in Samaria for going to Jerusalem, he is clearly saying two things, not just one thing. He is saying: ‘Follow ME.’ And he is saying ‘FOLLOW me.’ There is me, and there is my mission. There is a person, and there is a path. There is a sweetness, and there is suffering. There is Jesus, and there is Jerusalem.”
To follow means we have to move. God is on the move, will you get your shoes on and set out on the path regardless of how tough it may be?
