PICTURE PRAISE 

Follow me, as I follow the example of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1

 

I love cairns. While I usually see them on hikes up mountains, I found this one at a retreat spot. It gave me pause to consider why cairns even exist.

Remember when Hansel dropped bread crumbs in the fairy tale so he and Gretel could find their way back home? Cairns are sometimes built to help the builder find his way home. But often they’re built by those who pioneered our paths, as if to say; Come this way, the path is easier. Use this truth to step on.

Of course, God gave us the Bible as a sort of cairn. The Bible established the footholds of those who have gone before us, saying Come this way, the path is easier. Use this truth to step on. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that the Bible leaves cairns for teaching the faith and correcting error, for resetting the direction of a man’s life and training him in godly living. Follow God’s example in everything you do, Ephesians 5:1 says, just as a much-loved child imitates his father.

During Christ’s life and ministry, he left cairns of godly living, conflict resolution, wisdom, discipleship, rest, humility, and more. Come this way, the path is easier. Use this truth to step on. Then he became the ultimate cairn; we follow his example according to a cairn that Ephesians 2:20 says was founded by the apostles and prophets, but initially by Jesus Christ, the foundational rock or cornerstone.

Seeing this view, I reflected. Am I leaving cairns in my wake? Paul could say, “Follow me, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) I want others to follow. If I’m not leaving cairns, investing in the lives of others, saying, “Come this way, the path is easier,” why would they follow? What kind of legacy am I leaving?

 

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