Look Who's Walking!

I spent the day with all 4 of my sweet grandbabies. The oldest, Mikaela, is now 6, Eli is 3, Bryton is 21 months and the baby of the bunch, Mercie, just turned 10 months. Over the course of the last 6 years, I have witnessed many milestones among this crew of youngins'. The first times they rolled over and sat alone, their first tooth, their first words, the first time they pulled up and then eventually their first steps.

In the last few days, Mercie began taking her first steps. It was so exciting as she went from 1 or 2 steps to now being able to take about 8 or 9 steps. It was fun to watch her. She would take a few steps and then stop and clap for herself, then take a few more. If she faltered and fell, I just encouraged her to get back up and try again. Of course I was clapping and cheering for her the whole time! Even though I have observed my other 3 grandchildren do this very same thing, it was just as precious to me and brought the same amount of joy as if it were something totally brand new. Each new milestone of each grandchild evoked the same emotion of amazing wonder in me even though they were not new experiences.

I thought about this concept in relation to the way God feels about us and our Christian walk. From the time we start our journey as a new baby Christian, we will encounter many different phases along the way that make up the growth process. Each milestone that we reach in our spiritual growth is just as precious to God even though He has seen the same thing in other's lives. Each little baby step we take is exciting to Him. From the moment we took that first step to our salvation, each step that follows takes us toward a more intimate relationship with Him. Sometimes our steps are a little uncertain and wobbly. Sometimes they are steadier and we are a little more sure of ourselves. I can just picture our Lord standing along the path cheering us on and encouraging us when we take those timid little steps and cheering louder as we get more steady on our feet. Finally we are walking and He is rejoicing! He is so proud of us. He is our Father and He feels all those same fatherly things toward us.

Now that we are walking, we just have to make sure that we continue on our forward journey. We certainly don't want to falter and revert back to those tiny little baby steps. We need to keep our focus ahead. We have many more milestones to reach. Many more steps to take. If we happen to fall, we just need to get back up on our feet, steady ourselves and keep walking. Heading toward the next step in our progression to a deeper walk with God. And there will be our heavenly Father, clapping for us and cheering us on. Encouraging us to keep our focus on Him as we take it step by step. Milestone to milestone.

"as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2: 2-3)

In His Grip of Grace,
Beth