Every hike begins long before the first step is taken on the path.  A good bit of preparation is necessary to ensure a successful hiking experience.  A destination must be chosen.  Equipment and necessary supplies must be packed.  And the right gear must be chosen.  Among that gear would be the right kind of shoes.  In fact, shoes are one of the most important articles of clothing to consider when taking a hike.

Will the weather be warm and require a thicker boot rather than a hiking shoe?  Will you be traversing water during the trek?  How long of a hike are you looking at?  All of these factor into the right shoe for the journey.  A lady certainly wouldn’t elect to wear heels for a jaunt through the woods, and a man isn’t going to wear his best Birkenstock sandals on a hike through the snow, underbrush, and mud.  Having the right footwear is essential.

Have you ever worn flip flops to an amusement park or on a trip into a big city for the day?  While they can be great to kick off during a water ride or for keeping you cooler in the summer heat, they are terrible when it comes to support.  By day’s end, you’ll feel like you were walking barefoot all day.  They just aren’t designed for high impact support.  A tennis shoe or perhaps Crocs would be much better suited for those tasks.

When it comes to our spiritual lives, it is imperative that we recognize the right footwear for the journey as well.  Ephesians 6:15Ephesians 6:15
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
15 . Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet.

WP-Bible plugin says that our feet are to be “fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”  This is a picturesque illustration of the protective and supportive footgear of the Roman soldier.  We are to be properly geared and ready to take the gospel to anyone at anytime.  We’re to have our boots on and our laces tied.  We’re supposed to be prepared to do God’s work whenever we’re called to action.

It is also necessary that we recognize that the path of life is not a sprint, but rather a marathon.  If we are to persevere and endure, we’ve got to have our feet covered by God’s grace and yielding every step to His will.  We must see Him as the source of our strength and protection all along the route.  Take a look at how God led His people, the nation of Israel, on a long hike, and how he protected their bodies, and specifically their feet:

Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.  With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders.  But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.  During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.  I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 29: 2-6Deuteronomy 29: 2-6
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Third Speech: Israel Must Keep Its Agreement with the Lord The Lord Is Your God ²-³ Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them: When you were in Egypt, you saw the Lord perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country. ⁴-⁶ He has even told you, “For forty years I, the Lord, led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. j I gave ... food: Hebrew “you didn't eat bread or drink any wine or beer.” I did these things so you would realize that I am your God.” But the Lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard.

WP-Bible plugin

Did you catch how long the desert hikers’ shoes lasted?  Uh huh, forty years!!  Was it because the whole nation had stopped by a Chaco outlet on the way out of Egypt?  No, it was because God had their backs, their fronts, and their feet!  God met every need of His people out there in the middle of that desert, from clothes, to water, to food, to shelter, to direction, simply because He’s God and He loves His people.

He is still God, and He still loves His people, and He’s still leading His people.  So, as we hike the path He’s carved for each of us everyday, it is imperative that we place our trust in Him, follow the path He’s mapped out, and make sure we’re wearing the right shoes; the brand called, “Faith!”

Water

Two thirds of the human body is water. Because we lose water constantly through perspiration, respiration, digestion and waste disposal, our body fluids must be replenished regularly. Without sufficient water, sweating ceases, blood circulation slows, and tasks become arduous. Even in temperate weather, people can survive only a relatively short time without water. In hot deserts, they’ll need a gallon or more a day each.

Fieldbook – Boy Scouts of America

Out in the great outdoors, safe drinking water is a necessity. You can go quite a while without food in an emergency situation. But the outlook without water is dire. Early on, an avid hiker will learn that a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds (and gasoline only 6 pounds, interestingly – but don’t carry it as a water replacement). So with great need there is also great cost to keep adequate supplies on hand. And additives are to be avoided. Much like salt water, soda has large amounts of sodium, which actually increases thirst rather than quenching it.

Throughout Scripture and humanity’s reflection on it, water has been used as a symbol or metaphor for the Holy Spirit (other common symbols being oil, wind and fire). The Holy Spirit’s role in the baptism of Jesus has cemented this, but is not the lone connection. Another great example is John 7:37-39John 7:37-39
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Streams of Life-Giving Water ³⁷ . On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! ³⁸ ; . Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” ³⁹ Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been given his full glory. k had not yet been given his full glory: In the Gospel of John, Jesus is given his full glory both when he is nailed to the cross and when he is raised from death to sit beside his Father in heaven.

WP-Bible plugin:

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

John 7:37-39John 7:37-39
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Streams of Life-Giving Water ³⁷ . On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! ³⁸ ; . Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” ³⁹ Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been given his full glory. k had not yet been given his full glory: In the Gospel of John, Jesus is given his full glory both when he is nailed to the cross and when he is raised from death to sit beside his Father in heaven.

WP-Bible plugin, NIV

Just as water is essential for cleansing, so the Holy Spirit is the the agent by which cleansing and purification is made possible in our lives. As water is required to sustain life, so the Holy Spirit is essential for the follower of Jesus. The alternative is a dry and unproductive life, and who wants that? Beyond sustaining and cleansing, water is also refreshing. You can swim in it on a hot summer’s day. It helps cool our body when we labor. And walking in a nice spring rain can bring pleasure to the soul. So too, the Spirit is powerful in our lives, refreshing us when we are weak, cooling our tension and stress, helping us to thrive even in the “desert” periods of our lives.

The Spirit longs to guide us into God’s will. The Spirit is the one who illuminates God’s word for us, making it more than just words on the page. He reveals God’s will to us as a body and as individuals. And continuing the metaphor, you wouldn’t set out on a hike without water; don’t leave home without the Spirit! Spend time in prayer so that you are sensitive to his voice. Let him move through you, empowering you to serve and persevere in the face of adversity. Humble yourself before him and let him reveal and correct sin in your life so that you can become a shining example of your holy Father!

One of my favorite activities is hiking. It doesn’t matter if it is a few hours in the woods, a day hike to a mountain top, or a three day journey to camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There is something you gain by being surrounded by nothing but nature that you can’t find any other way. For me, it is a worship experience where I can spend time with the Creator one-on-one.

When preparing for a hike one of the most important items I pack is food. The amount of food depends on the intensity of the hike  (how many miles and how much elevation gain). The type of food is always the same. A good balance of carbohydrates and protein. It doesn’t need to be fancy. I don’t get into the high price energy bars when a Snickers serves the same purpose. Fresh fruit is good but it doesn’t wear well in the rugged back-country. GORP however is the hiker’s version of manna. Good Ol’ Raisins and Peanuts (with M&M’s mixed in of course) is a perfect balance of carbs and protein, travels well, and will get you through any back-country excursion.

When you come to think of it, hiking isn’t the only time we put lots of thought into our meals. We plan out meals for the week, try to come up with a new idea for lunch, and look forward to the weekend when we can indulge at a favorite restaurant.

Physical food is important, always has been, always will be. Probably the single most important food in every culture originates with various types of grain. In most cultures it is some form of bread. Perhaps this is why Jesus referred to Himself as “the Bread of life”.

In John 6:26-27John 6:26-27
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
26 Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles, a miracles: The Greek text has “signs” here and “sign” in verse ³⁰ . but because you ate all the food you wanted. ²⁷ Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

WP-Bible plugin a multitude of people followed Jesus after He had fed them with loaves and fish. Jesus got rather stern with them because He realized they were more concerned about their bellies than their hearts. They were more focused on the physical than the spiritual. Jesus told them “you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”.

Just as we eat bread to satisfy our physical hunger, we can only satisfy our spiritual hunger by maintaining a right relationship with Christ. Just as we must eat daily to maintain physical health, so must we invite Christ into our daily walk to sustain spiritual health.

God has prepared a rich feast for us within His Word. Pull up to the table, bring a big appetite, and dine to your heart’s content.

Yesterday we looked at fear, how it paralyzes us and causes us to stumble and fall. But what was it that actually made the “wicked and lazy” servant so afraid? And what should we learn from it?

Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, “Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.”

But the master replied, “You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.”

Matthew 25:24-27Matthew 25:24-27
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
24 The servant who had been given one thousand coins then came in and said, “Sir, I know that you are hard to get along with. You harvest what you don't plant and gather crops where you haven't scattered seed. ²⁵ I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!” ²⁶ The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don't plant and gather crops where I haven't scattered seed. ²⁷ You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it.”

WP-Bible plugin

I knew you were a harsh man. Can you imagine going up to your boss and saying something like that? You boss puts you in charge of a big project, a budget to accomplish it, and leaves town with the expectation you will complete your job. He gets back, sees nothing done. And you respond, “I knew you were a harsh man. So I didn’t want to risk failure. But don’t worry, I haven’t wasted any of the money, it’s all right here.”

We’re not told that he was right or wrong about his opinion of the master. Maybe he had good reason to think the master was hard or had high expectations. From the servant’s vantage, it certainly seemed that the master gained advantage in situations that weren’t of his own making. Maybe he had just heard that the master had high expectations. Perhaps one of the other two servants, knowing the master well, had warned him saying, “Don’t mess this up. This is your chance to shine!” Or maybe it was all just in his head.

We don’t know. But we do know that his response was a mistake.

Stepping back for a moment: This whole thought process is important. Some have read this parable and taken the servant’s statement as definitive. And reasoning that the master stands in for God in the parable, they have reasoned that God is harsh, just like the master. We need to recognize that that is not what this parable teaches. And this kind of attitude towards God is dangerous, as we can see in the response of the servant.

The master points out his servant’s poor reasoning: “You mean to tell me that you had this idea I was harsh, and yet you did nothing? Did you fully think this through? Are you really expecting me to pat you on the back and say well done?” The master doesn’t tell the servant his view of the matter was wrong or right. That’s not the point. The master points back to task at hand: “You were supposed to produce. And you didn’t.”

God does care that we are productive. He has entrusted great riches with us: the message of salvation, his body the Church, our possessions. God has given all these as tools. He wants them used to advance the Kingdom of God. People are right to say that God doesn’t need us to accomplish his purposes. But he has decided to use us. It is his great pleasure and will to involve us in his plan for rescuing the world.

That God would use is is humbling, but encouraging. Each new day is a chance to praise God by our faithfulness and persistence. We don’t have to dread the failure and sin that has haunted us to this moment. Today, step out in faith, letting your choice to follow God transform you into the image of Jesus.

In the parable of the talents the final servant, the one who hides his talent in the dirt, gives his excuse for his failure in clear terms. I was afraid. A simple statement. Here’s your money. I didn’t lose it, at least…

Fear makes us do bad things. Unwise things. Wicked things. Often it just causes us to do less than we could, less than we should. In the case, Jesus describes a man paralyzed by his fear. Though many of us through experience read this man and critically agree that he was lazy and wicked, if we were honest, we sometimes fail in just the same way. We side with fear, saying that we can’t do what we’ve been called to do. We say with our actions that God really isn’t in control of our lives, and we’re not sure we can trust him.

Fear comes in many varieties. There is the fear of not having our needs met. There is the fear of failure, of not measuring up. There is the fear of bad things happening to our family, things we can’t control, or worse, things we maybe should have known but didn’t. There is the fear of the future, that huge expanse that often will not yield to our probing. There is fear of being lonely, ignored, discarded as unnecessary. Fear leads to worry and anxiety, even sin. Taken to the extreme, it is an attitude that says, “I don’t trust you, God.”

God has offered us his love and his presence. His son was sent to become like us, so that we could see in him someone who walked the talk. And he died and rose again to give us assurance that he would do the same for us. Without doubt, we have reason to expect that life won’t be perfect. That we won’t always be in control of the circumstances. But we have no reason to be paralyzed by fear.

What causes you deep concern? What makes you anxious? What bothers you to distraction? What do you fear? Today, spend some time in prayer offering that thing to  God. Our hope is in him alone.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

1 John 4:13-191 John 4:13-19
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
13 God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us. ¹⁴ God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him. ¹⁵ God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That's how we stay one with God ¹⁶ and are sure that God loves us. God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us. ¹⁷ If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won't be worried about the day of judgment. ¹⁸ A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows that we have not really learned to love. ¹⁹ We love because God loved us first.

WP-Bible plugin