Footprints For Others

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.  Galations 6: 9 (NIV)

My wife and I love to walk on the beach.  I'm not one to swim in the ocean too much.  I suppose I'm too scared of what's in the water.  But, I do enjoy laying on the beach and taking an occasional stroll.  There's really not much more relaxing than walking along the edge of the water and watching all the wonderful sights.  I really enjoy watching all the children playing in the sand and building those sand castle masterpieces.  The kids on the beach are so intense with their sand buckets and shovels and are so proud of what they've built.  I also really enjoying looking for seashells and watching for an occasional dolphin jumping in and out of the water.  There's just nothing like it.

On our most recent trip to the beach, we were able to do a little more walking than usual.  The beach meandered around the coastline for miles and miles.  We soon came across a pier that reached out into the ocean water several hundred feet or so.  We thought that this would be a nice place to sit a few moments and catch our breath so we both sat off to the side of the pier observing all the busy fishermen testing their skills.  We found a nice shady spot next to some large concrete support beams which shielded us temporarily from the heat of the day. 

As I sat there, I noticed that we weren't the first ones of the day at this particular spot.  There were the remains of a small sand castle that was fighting to stay in tact from the onslaught of the crashing waves.  The small footprints that were once fresh in the sand, no doubt the builders of the sand castle, were now just barely visible.   It would only be a few more dozen waves until the sand would be a clean slate again, ready for the next day's activities. This was in stark contrast to the artwork I soon noticed in the concrete support beam next to us.  I wasn't sure when the pier was built, but --at the time it was built--someone decided to place themselves in immortality by carving a small heart in the concrete with the names of themselves and their loved one.  It was hardened in the concrete for all to see for as long as the concrete was standing. 

I thought to myself how symbolic this was of God's Word and our Work in the Christian Life.  How often do we work and work and work, doing what we may feel the Lord has called us to do, only to see little reward-----at least in our own minds.  We wonder if anything we do in the Christian Life is permanent or simply temporary?  The important thing for us, as Christians, to remember is that if we are obedient, there will always be rewards if we don't grow weary. 

That day on the beach showed me two types of Works.  One that was temporary and one that was permanent.  Whatever you are doing for the Lord, keep it up. HIS work has permanent results and is never in vain.  Don't quit and don't grow tired.  It may be years before you see results, or the results may not even be in your lifetime, but you'll always leave footprints hardened in the concrete for others to see, not washed away like the sands on the beach.