Walking Barefoot

    I spent little time in shoes as a kid. I would walk, and even run, nearly everywhere barefoot. Stones lined the driveway to my dad's garage and the area surrounding it, but the stones didn't bother my naked feet or even slow me down.
   I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing today.
   Now walking barefoot outside the cushioning of my carpeted home is "hard," "uncomfortable," and frankly, it "hurts." These are all words I think of when I consider the lack of humble service today.
   Yes, serving can sometimes be hard, uncomfortable, and may even hurt. But it's also rewarding, exciting, and commmanded by God.
   Walking barefoot also tends to be "messy." With four kids of my own, I now know why my mother got so frustrated when I came running into the house after a full day of going barefoot outdoors!
   Serving too can be "messy." Dealing with people very unlike ourselves creates situations that aren't always ideal. We may be ridiculed, rejected, or have to deal with myriad misunderstandings.
   People are scattered along the ditch of life, yet we walk right by. Too often we view service as an event or program we sign up for, an occasional add-on, time permitting. Viewed rightly service is a way of life, an act of love, in gratitude, for the love we have been given.
   Service is hard-wired into our DNA, yet how often we fight it. We forget what Jesus lived: "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).
   Jesus doesn't expect anything from us that He wasn't willing to do Himself. Even with the sandals the disciples wore, they might as well have been barefoot. Endless walking on dusty roads makes for one messy act of servanthood. Dry, dusty feet plus a little water equals mud. The act of service got messier before it made an impact.
   When we serve like Jesus, lives will be changed, not the least of which will be our own. Is this perhaps what we're afraid of?
   I recently encountered an anonymous quote that ironically could probably be attributed to every one of us. The quote is this: "Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it. But, I'm afraid He would ask me the same question."
   It leads me to wonder, why do I live the way I live? Why do I do the things I do? Why do I not do what I do not do?
   I think it all comes back to my reluctance to walk spiritually barefoot; I don't want to be hurt or uncomfortable--it's just too hard. In a broken world in need of hope, it's disheartening to consider the details that often take priority in my life.
   Increasingly, however, I am realizing that beauty is not found in the vastness of the service but in the position it takes in my life. Big or small, God is in every act of humble service performed from a heart that beats for His.