Elizabeth turned to the students sitting in the backseat and announced, "I'm going left."

Though it may not have been understood properly, the instruction of the teacher was a valuable piece of advice: "Let the people behind you know what you are doing."

Jesus is "the author of our salvation" (Hebrews 2:10 NKJV) That phrase can also be translated as "the pioneer of our salvation" (RSV) because the Greek word used in this verse ("archegos") was a word sometimes used for a pioneer or trailblazer who opened up a territory so that others could follow.

Pioneer is an appropriate image of Christ!

I love the Appalachian Mountains. I have often wondered what it would have been like in the early 1700's to cross those mountains — no interstates, not even any dirt roads, just trees and bushes. There were mountain men who had braved the frontier, but there was no safe and reliable way to get settlers over the mountains. What was needed was for some brave man, a "pioneer," to open the west by finding the best mountain passes and building a passable road to the west.

The idea of the pioneer is an appropriate image of Christ. He went before us and opened up the way so that we can follow.

But you, too, are called to be an "archegos," a pioneer who blazes the way for others to follow. There are those who work with you and live around you who are looking to you as they struggle to find the way in their own lives. You may have children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and countless others who will be influenced by the legacy you leave behind. Choose your path carefully. And let the people behind you know what you are doing.

May we be able to say with Paul: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV)

 

Print this Article Send it to a Friend Heartlight encourages you to share this material with others in church bulletins, personal emails and other non-commercial uses. Please see our Usage Guidelines for more information.	Jesus in the Face of My Favorite Mentor For the Next Traveler How Will You Be Remembered? Thought for the Day
	ALL of Heartlight        --- ARTICLES   A Taste of Home   Caring Touch   Diary of God   Hope for Life   Hope from the Hill Country   Just for Men   Just for Women   Leading in Hope   Love, Sex & Marriage   Making Life Work   Prayer for the Nation   Single...Not Alone   Special Features   Timely Truths   Together in His Grace   Two Minute Meditations        --- DEVOTIONALS   Charles Spurgeon   Daily Wisdom   My Utmost for His Highest   Praying with Paul   Quotemeal   Today's Verse   What Jesus Did

© 2006 Alan Smith. Used by permission. This devotional was reprinted from Thought for the Day.

Title: "The People Behind You"
Author: Alan Smith
Publication Date: April 29, 2006

Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot by Max Lucado In Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado offers practical tools for exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, putting your strengths to work, and living in your "sweet spot" for the rest of your life.

Alan Smith ministers with the Church of Christ in White House, Tennessee and publishes the email devotional "Thought for the Day."

More Heartlight Feeds

Get Heartlight articles and devotionals by email FREE every day! Daily Heartlight Today's Verse What Jesus Did! Quotemeal

More Information