The other day as I walked along the beach, I was stepping in somebody’s footsteps that had gone before me. The sand was soft, and I had a fair distance to walk, so I figured walking where someone else had walked would make it a little easier, which it did.

I noticed that whoever’s footprints I was walking in had left quite a different impression with their left foot than with their right. The right foot was pretty clean cut, nothing outstanding about it, but the left foot had very deep and defined toe prints, almost as though their toes scraped down deep into the sand with every step. Each toe was clearly apparent, whereas, with the right foot, there was no distinction between the toes and the soul of the foot. This distinctive footprint made it easy for me to identify this person’s path among all the other footprints as I made my way back to the car.

I found this quite intriguing, and you guessed it, started to wonder what the Lord was showing me.

If we want to find a way through the tough parts of the journey of life (the soft sand) we’re best to walk where Jesus has walked. He went first, He faced everything before us, He’s gone ahead of us. He knows the way because He, Himself, is the Way. We’re going to do much better if we follow the Way, keeping in step with the Spirit. If we try and make our own way, wandering off or being independent from Him, we’re gonna find it a lot harder, and the journey will take us longer.

Further to this, when we follow in Christ’s footsteps (keep in step with the Spirit) we learn something about Him. We not only walk the same path He trod, but we fellowship with Him while we walk. We come to know His nature, to understand Him. And as we get to know Him, we learn to recognise Him. His ways and His nature begin to stand out among all the other options, all the other ways, paths and voices that surround us.

Who’s footprints are we gonna follow?