A mother was upstairs cleaning and she asked her daughter, “where are your shoes?”
The girl replied, “my shoes are downstairs.”
“Well, what are they doing downstairs?”
The girl thought about it for a moment and said: “Mom, they’re not doing anything. They have no feet in them.”
Friends, we need a faith that has feet in it! Too often those who profess to have a faith in a God of love are like empty shoes. There’s an old saying, “faith without works is dead.” We are called to make a difference in the lives of people. When we do, we are not only meeting a material need, we are bringing them hope and faith and love.
There are those of you whose faith is activated and you are making a difference in individual lives and our community. I am so thankful for you. Government agencies can provide resources, but it has been you at the grass roots level who can bridge the gap or aid in the first step toward recovery or resources. You have shoes with feet in them!
As I encourage people to get involved, I find that a fear or perhaps a hesitancy has come into being that wasn’t as pronounced even a few years ago as it is today. We see the violence and crime in the news and we say to ourselves: “be cautious, be leery, be on your guard. You don’t know this person, so don’t get too involved.”
I understand. I have to take certain precautions when I am in certain situations, but I have to fight the temptation to back off entirely from helping my fellow man. People are hurting and broken and need others to lean on so they can rise up and take the step forward.
Let’s fill the shoes (or should I say sandals) of the Man from Galilee. That’s why he passed them on us. To follow in His footsteps and live as He lived, is to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of others.
