the thoughts of a walk

this morning i went for a walk along the beach. the sand was cool and the waters were receding, so my feet sank into the sand and left deep tracks. about halfway through my walk i stopped and looked back at where i'd come from. you should have seen my tracks!! they looked as though they had been made by a drunken sailor (of which i'm NOT, by the way)! 

i decided to conduct a small experiment. from that point on, i decided to fix my eyes on a big rock at the end of the beach to see if i could walk in a straight line. i tried very hard to always keep looking at the rock. however, i was soon distracted by the waves, the debris brought in by the high tide, and the music i was listening to. my distractions were short, but they had a distinct effect on my attempt at a straight line. when i reached the cliffs at the end of our beach, i looked back to inspect my path. it wasn't perfect, but it was definitely an improvement from before when i was just walking aimlessly.

this made me think. we, as christians, are all walking in the same direction - Christ-likeness. we have also all been given something to fix our eyes on and something that will help us walk in a straight way. however, many of us (including me) walk as if we have no specific direction; we're headed the right way, but we are not purposeful about it and our lives end up looking like we're just a bunch of drunken sailors. maybe this is because what we've been given to focus on seems, like my rock, kinda boring and easily trumped by the action around us. as i was walking, i realized that my spiritual life, unlike my current reality, has a glorious object on which my life should be fixed. Christ and the Word are magnificent, but many times i look at them like i looked at the rock - with disinterested yet practical eyes. i only watched the rock so that my path would be straight, not because the rock in and of itself was interesting. 

my prayer this morning for my own life, and now for yours, is that our eyes would be opened to the magnificence and awesomeness of the foundation of our faith. that we would fix our eyes on Christ - the author and perfecter of our faith, not just because He straightens our paths, but because of who He is and the hope He has given to us. 

that's my thought for the day. hope it gets you thinking as well

hebrews 12:1-2 

therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.