Good Advice: Watch Your Step

The following is extracted from The Memoirs of Robert E. Lee by Gen. A. L. Long: "When George Washington Custis Lee, the eldest of the seven children of General Robert E. Lee, was a very little child, his father took him for a walk one winter's day in the snow, holding him by the hand. Soon the boy dropped behind. Looking over his shoulder, the father saw the little boy imitating his every movement. with head and shoulders erect, putting his little feet exactly in his father's footprints. "When I saw this," said the general, "I said to myself, It behooves me to walk very straight, when this fellow is already following in my tracks.

"It must have been quite a stretch for the short legs of a child, but the little fellow was making a manful effort to duplicate exactly the steps of the father. The story carries a powerful and perpetual message. It teaching is practical, moral, and biblical. Others are following the path we take; they are walking in our steps. It is impossible to calculate the total effect and influence of one's life. Even when we are least aware of it, someone is following a pattern we have set. Like seeds of the thistle in a high wind, it is impossible to call them back, and no one knows where they will land and take root.

So, we can call this: GOOD ADVICE: WATCH YOUR STEP! It is a message not only for parents and grandparents, but for all Christians - for everybody. The Bible has quite a lot of teaching on this line. "Make straight paths for your feet ... Turn not to the right hand nor the left" (Prov. 4:26 - 27).

Paul went to great length in his epistles to impress upon the Christian the need to show consideration for the conscience of the weaker brother. One wrong move, one questionable practice, or one prejudiced or uncharitable remark may be all it takes to turn someone out of the way.

And still more from the Holly Word - "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (I Peter 2:21). And we are to walk "even as he walked" (I John 2:6).

Previously published in the Gems of Truth by Herald and Banner Press, Overland Park, Kansas http://www.heraldandbanner.com/