Steps

It wasn’t the worst job I’ve ever had, but at the time I thought it was. My dad owned a lawn care service and shop. When I wasn’t working at the shop, I was out mowing lawns, trimming bushes and doing lawn care.

One of our customers wanted his driveway recovered with gravel. Not the small pea sized gravel, but big 1 – 2 inch sized stones. I remember arriving at the house to find a huge mound of rock. I also saw that dad had left me tools to make the job easier; a shovel and rake. If you have ever tried to spread gravel with a shovel and a rake before, you know, it isn’t easy.

At first I thought I would use the rake but discovered I wasn’t getting very far with that method. I thought the shovel might work better. It seemed like a good idea but the gravel was so heavy it was hard to get the shovel into the pile let alone get a good amount to spread.

So there I was....realizing this job was going to take a lot longer and be a lot harder than I thought. So little by little I chipped away at the huge mound of gravel. I don’t know how long it took me, but when I started I didn’t think I would ever be finished. I kept trying to imagine the pile getting smaller and smaller and how good it would be when I was finally done. The pile did grow smaller and smaller…until it was gone.

I’ve read that Confucius said “a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step.” I believe I thought about that quote that afternoon. I knew that each little shovelful of rock meant I was one step closer to being finished. We know that we can’t start on any journey until we take that first step. Only after the first step do you think about the next step. One step gives way to another and we find that we are making progress.

In John 10:4, Jesus said that when the shepherd brings out his sheep they follow him. Of course Jesus wasn’t talking about sheep, he was talking about us. Our journey starts when we realize that we are loved more than we ever knew and we choose to follow Jesus. However, our journey doesn’t stop there. That is just the first step.

In order for our faith to grow and deepen, we must be willing to discover what our next step is and then take it. Sometimes our next step is a big one because we have to step over obstacles in the road or things that simply want to trip us up. Other times our step is not so big.

The main question is what is my next step? What is the next step that Jesus is calling me to take? What is the next step that will help my love for Him to grow stronger and my desire for him to be deeper?

May you discover what that step is and take it because the journey is beautiful and worth it all.

Peace, Dave.