Paths
By Mike Rule

A friend once told me, "Traveler, paths are simply not there for the walking, paths are made by walking. Keep walking brother." As I travel this path I cannot help but observe that the result of what God has done in our lives is often made a work for others to emulate. In effect what we are saying is, "God did this for me and if you will do what He told me to do, then He will do the same work in you too." We make the "in-working" of the Holy Spirit an "out-working" for others to follow.

As an example, I was recently at a preaching conference and attended sessions on the authority of scripture and the importance of prayer. Each session began with the leader telling the story of how God did a work in his life to bring him to see the importance of his respective topic. They each shared how their desire to pray and to know scripture flowed naturally out of their relationship with God. Each then continued to teach for another forty-five minutes on how we must pray and read scripture if we ever expect God to work in us and through us. Being armed and equipped was now a necessity. What God had done naturally in them must now be generated by others.

God brought us to the place we are today in our journey with Him, but in our blindness we expect others to emulate what He did naturally in us. Our challenge is to encourage people to see Jesus. Can we walk by faith and trust Him to complete the work He starts in other people, or do we require visible and immediate results? Prayer, the truth of scripture, and all spiritual fruit comes from the Holy Spirit alone. They are a natural outflow of His indwelling presence. How arrogant to demand of others what we did not do for ourselves. Keep walking, Traveler, "…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12: 2)