I Walked Where Jesus Walked
I walked today where Jesus walked,
In days of long ago.
I wandered down each path He knew,
With reverent step and slow.
– Hymn by Geoffrey O’Hara
It has always been a dream of mine to travel to Israel. A few years ago I was finally able to make that dream a reality. My wife, my kids, my parents, and I joined a group of fellow believers and our pastor from Salt Lake on a Biblically-based tour of Jerusalem and other historically-significant Israel locations.
I went into this experience expecting it to be mind-blowing, and I anticipated my days would be filled with a sense of awe. I didn’t expect that I would have a humbling lump in my throat the entire time. It was both strange and wonderful to travel the same steps as our Savior. We listened as our pastor read words from the Bible in the exact locations depicted over 4,000 years ago.
We traveled on the Sea of Galilee in a wooden boat, and I was transported back to Jesus calming the waves and walking on water.
On one day alone, we walked 8 hours and 7 miles wandering the streets Jesus walked on Palm Sunday, as well as the exact steps of his crucifixion. I was baptized in the River Jordan, where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
I know I can never truly walk in Jesus’ shoes, but walking where He walked, sitting where He gave the Sermon on the Mount, seeing where He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, and standing where He stumbled, overcome with the heaviness of the cross, I felt so close to Him. I felt as if He walked beside me, sat beside me, and ate beside me. I cannot fully express what this trip meant to me and my faith, but I can tell you this…
I knelt today where Jesus knelt,
And felt Him close to me.
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TO THIS YOU WERE CALLED, BECAUSE CHRIST SUFFERED FOR YOU, LEAVING YOU AN EXAMPLE, THAT YOU SHOULD FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS.
