This weekend Ashton and I took an occasional opportunity to have some one on one time together. Her brothers were off playing basketball with their friends, her mom was catching up on some work, and Ashton asked if I would go for a walk with her. I had no idea what a special time it would turn out to be.
As we started on our walk, Ashton began talking and never stopped until we returned home. I am not sure I remember all the things we talked about but I was amazed at how intense the conversation was. We talked of school, teachers, and friends. We talked about a little rabbit that did not make it across the street and then she thanked me for keeping her from stepping on it.
We talked of the ease of walking down the hill and she talked about the ease of walking up the hill…after I said uphill was harder than downhill. By the time we reached the top, she had developed a blister on her toe. I had told her not to wear flip-flops, but in this case daughters knew best until the blister showed up. She removed one flip-flop and walked in the grass but constantly looked for stickers.
After watching her limp along and then asking me for a piggyback ride, I stopped and picked her up. I placed her upon my shoulders, all 60 pounds, and continued home. She never stopped talking and asking questions. As I labored along with her on my shoulders, I realized how special this time was.
After about 10 miles…maybe it was just a mile and a half, I put her down so I could rest for a minute. I thought she would wait in pain until I recouped enough to once again hoist her to my shoulders but to my surprise she never stopped talking and walked right down the street, one foot in her flip-flop and the other bare.
When we returned home she began telling her mom about our walk. As I watched and listened in quiet wonder, I once again observed her non-stop conversation. The whole experience had me thinking what it might be like to walk with Jesus. Will I have the same excitement and intensity? Will I talk non-stop and ask question after question? I am sure I will be just like Ashton who would ask question after question before I had the opportunity to answer. And after we have walked for a few years will He pick me up and carry me for a hundred more? “As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’” (II Corinthians 6:16)
If you have faith in God, let your imagination roam. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” In Hebrews 11:6 Paul writes, “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
I Corinthians 15 is a great place to read about the importance of faith in life after death. That is where we find these words, ”If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures…” and the final verse of the chapter, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves to the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Do not pass the opportunity to walk with a child, a friend, your spouse, or whoever, and imagine what it will be like to walk with Jesus.
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