Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.

You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.") But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Hebrews 12:12-24

Are you enrolled in heaven? If so, who brought you to that point? Someone who was a road builder. All Christians are road builders. We all have a role in paving the way of faith for the next generation. The faithfulness of our lives may determine how difficult their journey will be. Will they have to repair the damage we made to the road? Will they be able to build new roads for others to find the way to God? To be good road builders, we must heed the advice found in God’s Word.

Those of us who have come to Jesus owe gratitude to those who have made "straight paths" for our walk of faith. In turn, we must remember those who will follow us and make straight paths for them. Practice your faith in a way that makes it easy for others to come to Jesus and to follow Him. What kind of a road builder are you?

A life lived for God leaves a lasting legacy!

Our Daily Bread – December 21, 2004