Hebrews 12:12-13 “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”
How often, if ever, do you think about your legacy? Are you aware of the consequences of your choices? You may not think your life matters, but every single person created in the image of God impacts the world, for good or for bad.
The writer of Hebrews encourages believers to make level paths in order to help the lame coming after them. We have the opportunity to leave trails that actually heal our fellow travelers. Or we can disregard our influence and create potholes that cause those coming behind us to stumble.
So how do we make a difference?
If we hope to leave level paths, it begins with our own commitment to discipline. No one likes to be disciplined, but without discipline we don’t learn self-control and without self-control it’s impossible to resist sin (Hebrews 12:4-11). Don’t fall for the lie that your sin only affects you. David’s sin with Bathsheba left a devastating mark not only on his family but the whole nation of Israel for generations (2 Samuel 11). It all began with David’s failure to exercise self-control.
I believe feeble arms are arms that probably aren’t lifted up in praise very often. They are arms that stay crossed in body language that says, I won’t praise you till I see you. Arms raised in praise are arms surrendered to reach up in faith to a God they choose to trust even when they don’t understand what he’s doing. They make level paths.
And those weak knees? My guess is they don’t get a lot of exercise bending in prayer. They would rather depend on themselves to get where they want to go. Prayer might mean waiting for answers and these knees stay far too busy to take the time to kneel. Consequently, they never grow strong enough to prepare the road for anyone who might be looking to them for direction.
Life in a fallen world is hard. But as followers of Christ we can level the playing field for those who come after us. Those who desire to live godly lives should be able to look at you and me and know the path we leave prepares them for the way of the Lord.