There is an old saying that goes like this, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. While everyone of us have taken many steps in this life many times we don’t know where the journey is taking us. We get up everyday and walk to the kitchen, walkout the door and go to work, and walk back into our homes to start all over again tomorrow. One step after another, sunrise after sunrise, day after day and we are no closer to where we want to be.
I had one of those health gadgets called a Fitbit that recorded my steps everyday . I had targeted 10,000 steps a day to walk and at times I walked close to 15,000 steps. That was a lot of steps that added up to miles and miles every week. I felt that I was accomplishing something if I could tell everyone that I had walked an average of five miles a day or up to 30-35 miles a week. Simply amazing, so I thought, until I wondered where all these steps were taking me. I wasn’t seeing anything I had never seen before and I wasn’t going any place new. It was almost as if I was walking in circles.
We all know people that are walking in those circles. They simply go through the motions everyday and they never know where they are going. They have no ambition, no drive, no direction, and no idea where their life is taking them. If you don’t know where you are going how will you know when you get there? It is important to have some type of plan or blueprint to follow after for your life. Do you get an education? Find a husband or wife? What type of job do you desire? While these things are important they are not the most important things in your life. Jesus said in:
Mark 8:36-37
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
There are steps that are important and they are measured out to take you somewhere. The steps that are needed most in this generation are the steps of a lifetime, they will lead you to salvation and one day to the throne. God has a plan and a blueprint. He has laid out the journey in His map, called the Bible. The first three steps that are essential to any and every man was told to us in the book of Acts. This historical biblical book lays out the birth of the church and what steps are to be taken by everyone that desires to be saved.
After Peter was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven by Jesus in Matthew 16:19 he preached his first message on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. When the people cried out,”what shall we do”. Peter’s response was exactly what these people needed and every generation after them.
Acts 2:38-39 (KJV)
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Within these scriptures I see the first three steps every man, woman, and child should take in their lives that will lead them to a place that they long for. Repentance is that first step. It is simply asking God to forgive you for your past mistakes and everything that you are not. It doesn’t have to be complicated but it should be sincere. The second step is baptism in Jesus name for the remission of those sins. There are somethings in our lives that should be buried with him. After these two steps God actually makes a step towards us. It is His desire that none should perish but all come to repentance. When God steps towards you He has come to dwell within you. This is the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Tongues is that thing that allows us to know that someone is living in the house. When we move into a new home we always have the power turned on. This is something that we can’t do without making a call. When we get home and walk in that door, when the lights come on, we know that we have power. When God’s Spirit is poured out there is evidence that the power is there.
Repentance is the sacrifice or price of the house, Baptism is cleaning the house out and the Holy Ghost is God moving into your house. It really is that simple but it is one step at a time. But with these steps we have direction, a plan, and a destination. One step at a time to make it to heaven.