“Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people]…(Ephesians 5:15 Amplified Bible)
I have to hand it to this certain adolescent boy for his conscientious effort and extremely thoughtful consideration of others. Let me tell you why. He was going to a friend’s house to visit, and he wanted to make sure that he made a good impression. He was from a family that was going through some tough times financially, but that was not going to hinder him or hold him back from presenting himself as a clean-cut lad. He washed up, careful not to use too much water since that would bring the water bill up. He brushed his teeth with baking soda and reached into his chest of drawers to retrieve a piece of hard candy that would leave his breath smelling fresh. The baking soda doubled as a homemade deodorant. The added touch was to put on a dab of powder from a sample dropped off by the Avon sales lady that included his house on their route. He found the power in the bathroom cabinet, probably belonging to his mom, and he shook some in both his shoes. His intent was good. For you see, all he had was one pair of shoes, high top tennis shoes, the kind that are hard to find these days. These were not just single-purpose shoes. They served as school shoes, play shoes, and even church shoes. On many a day he wore these shoes from the time he dressed in the morning until he went to bed at night. He did not have any odor eaters and I don’t even know if there was such a thing back in the day. So the powder had to do. Make sense to me.
The adolescent leaves home and arrives at his friend’s house, properly announced. He knocks on the door and his friend’s mother answers. As soon as he takes one step into the house, the mother says, “Take your shoes off so you won’t track dirt on our new carpet.” Yes, they had the luxury of having carpet, not like the old linoleum floors he was used to walking on at his house. The mother leads the boy to the room where his friend is watching TV. They are elated to see one another. The mother, well as she looked back at the carpet, she was not so elated. There were white footprints all over the carpet, left by the visiting boy’s powdered feet. The good thing about this story is that the mother did not yell at the boy or loose her temper. She just went and got the gigantic sweeper that was common at the time, plugged it in, and she just swept up the tracks, the white footprints. Smiling as she cleaned the rug, she was trying her hardest to contain the laughter that wanted to come out of her mouth. However, the laughter escapes, as do her words, “You not only came to visit, but you brough along something I will never forget.” The boy apologized, but the mother said, “No worries,” looking directly at the young guest. And then she was talking to me still, but oddly, she looked at her son and said, “Maybe your cleanliness will rub off on your friend here.”
Footprints! Everywhere we go as God’s children, we should leave some footprints. Oh, not with out feet, but with our witness. We should make an impression, not with powder as the boy did in the story above, but with the power of God and the presence of the Spirit being easily seen wherever we go and with each step we take. In the story above, when the boy got home, he was still tracking power on his linoleum floors after he took his shoes off. Away or at home, in the sanctuary or on the street, or while laboring or enjoying moments of levity with friends and family, our “footprints” should leave noticeable Christian signs of our Christianity. Maybe it will rub off on somebody along the way and they will follow them and be led to the Lord. Have a great Wednesday and walk on my friend in the newness of life. Be blessed!
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4 NKJV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King