WHATEVER YOU DO, CATCH UP

Someone said to Jesus, "I will follow you no matter where you go." Luke 9:57 (NLT)

This morning my appointment with God was in Job. As I am jotting down what I sense from the Spirit, I also hear the distant but repetitive slap, slap, slap of little sneakers speeding down the trail. Even before looking up, I know to whom the rhythmic slaps belong. Here comes a little guy I have seen before, he has a big school pack and is anxiously trying catch up to his mother.

Every week day that I care to, I can see a young Hindi woman and her son walking the canal trail to the school. The trail is behind my house and when possible I enjoy the view of Mt. Diablo in the morning sun from the backyard as I do my devotions.

Just before the stretch of trail gets to my house there is a short but steep grade that comes from around the bend. I can't see around the corner but I know what is down there. At the base of the incline the grass spreads out smooth and green, a tree with a makeshift rope swing, a puddling of a sometimes creek and in the right season there are tempting blackberries beckoning along the way.

It may just be the hill but my guess is it's more likely the distractions. Whenever I see this little guy with the big school pack he is scurrying to catch up. Day after day the slap, slap, slap has an acceleration they are coming into my view.

Mom is determined in her walk seldom slowing. She knows where they are going and when they need to be there. With the next slope just ahead, there is a provocative sense of urgency in her stride. If I linger long enough I will see the mom again. But I won't hear the slapping of the straggler. Walking alone and silent she will be passing the opposite way, her son safely deposited at school.

This morning the picture of myself trying following to follow Jesus was captured in the scene before me. Sometimes it's the weight of what I put in my backpack to carry for the day ahead that slows me. Sometimes it's the hill Jesus is leading me over. Sometimes is the grass, the puddle, the berries along the way that distract my attention, that averts my pace. "Oh look a swing!" And I am lagging behind again.

It seems with enigmatic routine I can be found playing catch up. There are time I can fear being lost. I can fear abandonment, though like the Hindi mother, Jesus never would. Like this young mother, what delight Jesus must feel as he hears the slap, slap, slap of my little feet closing in behind as he leads on where He knows I need to go.

What is distracting your attention today? Where do you need to play catch up?

Will Jesus hear your feet closing in behind? Oh ya, Job.

Glad to be with you in the Word. Pastor Art