DEVOTION//Walking in our Father's footsteps

Make known to me your ways, O LORD. Teach me your paths. 5 Make me walk in your truth and teach me, because you are the God who saves me. In you I hope all day long. 6 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and your mercy, for they are from eternity (Psalm 25:4-6).

Walks with Dad

One of the things I looked forward to when going on winter walks with my father was walking in his footsteps.

Fields and forest paths are snow-covered during winters around my northern Wisconsin home. Frequently, snow stretched beyond waist-high when I was in grade school. Breaking my own trail across a meadow required raising my feet as high as my short legs would take them, then pressing them down passed the crust on the snow until they found firm footing. With each step I would move less than a foot.

But following my father across that same meadow meant I could use the tracks his boots had pressed into the snow. His longer legs meant that I was challenged to keep up, but the path was easier and I didn't have to worry about losing my way.

Walks with our Father

I'd be surprised to learn someday that King David ever trudged across a  snowy field as a child. But his poetry in Psalm 25 could describe that scene. He asks to see where his Father was walking so he could walk in his Father's steps. He asks to see the path his Father mapped out in the truth of his Word.

David's reason for following in his Father's footsteps? "You are the God who saves me." Along with that, God's compassion and mercy span eternity. God's commitment to David -- and to us -- will never fail or diminish. David knew he could always trust our Father's guidance, even when he was challenged to take adult steps forward.

So can we because David’s God is also the one who saves us.

"Teach me your paths," we say with David. Those paths always lead us to the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. Our Father's path always leads us to his grace won for us by Jesus.