When Kids Ran Barefooted

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet.

Psalm 8:6

My dear Annie:

Do boys and girls still go barefooted?  When I was a boy the first day of May was the day I didn’t have to wear shoes.  Of course I wore them to school and church, but at home and most other places barefooted was the dress code.

Oh the joy of those days.  Running through the grass, God’s good earth browning up my feet, (even an occasional bee sting picked up from walking through clover was worth it).  By late summer rocks and briars and hot pavement didn’t bother me a bit.  My tough feet had dominion over them!

Back then, kids really did need to take baths and when mom asked if you had washed behind both ears it was for a reason!

But today I fear we’ve mostly gotten away from the things that God created.  Our lives are ruled by thing created by man.  They’re not necessarily bad things but they can never fulfill us like God-created things.    

Annie, your sweet spot – the reason you were created – is not connected to man-created things and institutions, your fulfillment will be found in the things that God created.  Things like your fellow human beings, your family, your Church, even good clean dirt and grass and sunsets and birds singing and the clean smell of the air after a thunderstorm.

There’s nothing like having a little spot of God’s creation where you represent Him.  Don’t allow your life to become sterile, walled up, and shut off from God’s creation. 

Don’t become trapped in manmade buildings and institutions that are not designed for God’s glory.  Throw up the windows!  Take your shoes off.  Walk on the beach, let the water splash up on your cloths.  See and treat people as if they’re a creation of God.  Do your part in bringing God’s rule to earth.  Find your little corner and let His light shine through you.

The ONE THING for today: Bottom line, the closer you are to the work of God’s hands the closer you will be to God and the healthier and more fulfilled your life will be.