When I was growing up, part of my Saturday responsibility was to mow the grass. My mother had her own beauty shop, and she was busy making ladies beautiful until late on Saturday evenings.
She had created a path around the side of our house out of concrete octagon-shaped pavers. These pavers led to the entrance to her beauty shop.
There were probably 12 or 15 of these pavers, and each had to be moved so the grass would not grow up around the sides. There was no such thing then as a weed eater!
That was the worst part of mowing, moving those pavers. It was a big job to move them, mow over the spot where they fit into the ground, and then replace them carefully into the same spot. But I did it every week that I mowed.
It was important to stay on the pavers as you walked to the beauty shop. The grass was thick, and it was often wet from the dew or from a shower or thunderstorm that was passing through. The ground would get soft, so staying on the path was important. Sometimes your foot would just slip off, and there you would be in the wet grass. If the mowing didn’t get done for some reason, you could be standing in grass up around your ankle.
I think those pavers were a lot like trying to stay on the path of a godly life. As long as you stay faithful, everything is fine. Just one slip, and you could be off in a direction far from the safety of the heavenly Father.
There is an old hymn we sometimes sing called “Stepping In The Light.” This song was published in 1890. The lyrics were written by Eliza E. Hewitt.
Hymnary.org gives the lyrics to this beautiful old hymn.
“Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Trying to follow our Savior and King;
Shaping our lives by His blessed example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.
Pressing more closely to Him who is leading,
When we are tempted to turn from the way;
Trusting the arm that is strong to defend us,
Happy, how happy, our praises each day.
Walking in footsteps of gentle forbearance,
Footsteps of faithfulness, mercy and love,
Looking to Him for the grace freely promised.
Happy, how happy, our journey above.
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Upward, still upward, we’ll follow our guide;
When we shall see Him, ‘the King in His beauty’,
Happy, how happy, our place at His side.
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Stepping in the light, stepping in the light;
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Led in paths of light.”
Following in the steps of Jesus should be our desire. It should be our goal, if we truly want to go to heaven.
Scripture lays out the stepping stones we need to point us toward heaven. Paul said, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each others; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:12-15).
Peter tells us what we need to add to our faith as we face temptations. He said that we are to add to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (II Peter 1:6-7). Verse 8 says, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”
These qualities, or attitudes, serve to keep us on the right path. When we fail to display these in our daily lives, we “fall off” the pavers of our Christian life and end up in the grass!
Paul gave us another list of what he calls the fruits of the Spirit. They are listed in Galatians 5:22-23: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” He said that those who belong to Jesus have crucified fleshly things, and then look at what he said in verse 25. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
Just as the ladies who came to my mother’s shop were trying to walk on those pavers, so we are trying to walk in the steps of the Savior. Every single day is a challenge as we face the temptations this world has to offer. These scriptures can serve as our guide to meet our goal—heaven.
Sandra Oliver