Matthew 3:13-17
And so Jesus began his public ministry when he was about 30 years old, by coming to John the Baptist to be baptized in the River Jordan.
He then went into the wilderness to prepare himself by praying, fasting and meditating.
When he felt ready, he gathered a small group of disciples and went about preaching the Gospel, healing the sick and fulfilling God’s plan for him.
There is no doubt that Jesus’ accomplishments on earth were monumental.
But before he did any of those things, he prepared himself through regular study, meditation and practice.
In other words, Jesus took a lot of baby steps prior to accomplishing great things—from childhood, he listened attentively to his teachers and parents, read the scriptures available to him, engaged in discussions with other scholars and practiced what he learned to understand their values. He did these things regularly, not just occasionally.
Now, we don’t have much historic information about what Jesus did the first 30 years of his life.
Some historians believe that he traveled widely to learn the diverse cultures and wisdoms of his time which may have included the countries of the Magi, such as Persia & Egypt and perhaps he even traveled to theFar East. Many of his teachings did not originate with him, but are found in the proverbs of other cultures outside of the Hebrew tradition. For example, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” found in Luke 6:31 is also found in the teachings of Daoism, Buddhism and Hinduism which existed long before Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.
Some Biblical scholars also believe that for a time, Jesus lived among the Essenes, a Jewish sect responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Essenes’ religious views were often in opposition to those of the Pharisees and Sadducees. This, according to some Biblical scholars, may have been why Jesus was rather antagonized by the Pharisees and Sadducees.
What Jesus did, each and every day during those 30 years undoubtedly shaped his thinking and beliefs which guided his action. The “big events” throughout his public ministry were the culmination of those baby steps Jesus took on a daily basis.
It was Lao-tzu, a highly regarded Chinese sage that said, “a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step.” Jesus seemed to have lived his life exemplifying this philosophy. He went about his daily life one step at a time. For example, he did not seek out all the sick people to heal—he simply healed those he encountered or specifically requested to be healed. As a matter of fact, when the crowd around him got too big, he often moved on. He never sought social status or acclamation but instead, sought to be like other ordinary folks. He merely did everything he did to the best of his ability and responded to the needs of the people at hand, day by day, one by one.
I’m sure many will say that all the attributes Jesus possessed was given him by God and his accomplishments were possible because of his divinity. Perhaps, but if that’s the case, then we don’t have a chance in trying to be like him.
I prefer to think that we can follow Jesus more closely if we learn by his example. If we simply take similar baby-steps Jesus took each and every day, we can walk closer with him and become more like him, day by day, step by step.
Baby steps are easy and do not require much effort. Anyone can do it. Yet, each step will bring us further along our life’s journey, making us a better person and a better Christian. The only catch is that we must take these steps each and every day so they can culminate the proverbial journey of a thousand miles.
For example, resolving to read the entire book of War and Peace is a tall order. But, if we merely commit to reading one page of it everyday, anyone can do it. Likewise, if we commit to reading one chapter, or even one verse from the Bible each and every day, it becomes very doable.
Here is a small sample list of baby steps that you may want to consider:
Begin each day with a prayer
End each day with a prayer
Give God a minute of your time
Refrain from making one hurtful remark
Put away $0.25 for God’s ministry
Reminisce on one good memory that will warm your heart
Take a moment to admire God’s creation
Remember someone’s kindness to you
Be grateful for something
Search your own heart and mind for that one thing you can do each and everyday that you believe will improve the quality of your life, and resolve to do it everyday. Remember—the power of the baby steps is in taking at least one every single day. This power of one, when culminated over time will complete that journey of a thousand miles.
As Jesus did, take each step, day by day and step by step. It’s virtually painless and only takes a minute. Your reward will be great!
Jesus will be with you every step of the way.
