By Pastor Kip Hasselbring, Lead Pastor
Many of you know that Margaret and I, along with a group of 28, traveled to the Holy Land of Israel. “Wow!” is my new favorite word as I found myself using it every day while we traveled to archaeological digs and holy sites and begin to see the Bible come to life in a whole new way. Since I’ve been back, people often ask me, “So, what was your favorite part of the trip?” And my answer is generally this, “Wow! All of it! There’s no way that I could narrow it down to just one thing.” But as I think about that question a bit more, I think I would say that my favorite part would be “All of the places that Jesus walked.” Literally, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus! We walked in several of those same places that Jesus walked…
The Capernaum synagogue and village (the “Hometown of Jesus”)
In Cana of Galilee where Jesus turned the water into wine (his first miracle!)
Along the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus restored Peter after his denial
The “Teaching Steps” that Jesus taught from near the Temple Mount
The Palm Sunday road that He walked before entering Jerusalem
The Via Dolorosa (“The Sorrowful Way”), where Jesus walked to the cross
I must say, it was pretty awesome to walk in the footsteps of Jesus for sure!
But it also got me thinking about some other “footsteps” that are mentioned in the Bible. In the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) was writing about what it looked like to be filled with the Spirit…and what evidence there is when the Spirit of God is saturating our lives (the “Fruit of the Spirit”). He went on to write this as well:
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)
So, even if we have not been to the Holy Land to see some of these amazing sites, we can still walk in the footsteps of Jesus!
Staying in step with the Spirit implies a couple of things. One, that we don’t “lag behind” Him and His leading in our lives. And secondly, it also means that we “don’t get ahead” of Him either. Sometimes when our group of 28 was walking around a site, some would lag behind. Our guide would kindly remind us of the importance of keeping in step with him and the group. At every stop, before we arrived, he would prepare us with important information so that we would get the most out of the upcoming site visit. When we arrived, he would often say, “Hubba hubba. Chop chop. Come on now everyone, shake a leg.” In other words, he was saying “Don’t lag behind, but keep in step with me and the group so you don’t miss out on important information as we walk through this site.”
And it’s important to not “get ahead” as well. When a group member would get ahead of the guide, they would be walking on…but not sure of their destination, and they too would miss out on important information and views because they got ahead of our guide and group.
So, as we think about “walking in the footsteps of Jesus,” let’s remember to follow His lead. To “keep in step” with Him and to stay close and listen to His voice so we can see the beautiful things He wants to show us as we learn to keep in step with Him.
Are you “in step” with the Lord? Or maybe we need a little nudge when we lag behind: “Hubba hubba. Chop chop. Come on, shake a leg,” to remind us to keep in step with Him and enjoy the journey as He faithfully leads us.
Now THAT’S walking in the footsteps of Jesus!