Calloused Feet

Don’t tell me the plan you make.
Show me the plan you complete.

For a plan without feet
is paralyzed.

Make your plan.
Build your plan.
Then give it calloused feet.

* * *

Jesus told a parable about two sons whose father asked each to go work in the family vineyard (Matthew 21:28-32). The first son said, “No.” But then he changed his mind and went. The second son said, “Yes.” But he did not follow through.

Jesus asked the crowd, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” (v. 31).

The crowd identified the first son.

Jesus then told the religious leaders of the day that tax collectors and prostitutes, the outcasts of the day, would enter God's Kingdom before they would. Why? The Father told the people to repent and believe. The religious leaders made a show of being spiritual, yet they did not do what God told them to do. They had no faith in Jesus.

On the other hand, the tax collectors and prostitutes that Jesus was talking about did not appear to be candidates for God's Kingdom, they responded the way the Father told them to. They put their faith in Christ and found salvation. They became participants in God’s Kingdom from that moment on while the religious leaders who claimed to be participants missed out despite their great show.

 

This principle, however, applies to more than faith, though that’s its intended message. I am not adding to or subtracting from that; it stands. The Father wants us to repent and believe. Those who do are saved and join His Kingdom.

Yet I see a practical application for daily life within this text.

Sometimes people talk about their goals and ambitions as if they believe that by simply making a plan the work has somehow been done. “Today I’m going to do this and this and this and boom! I’ll reach my destination.”

However, defining a goal and creating a plan to reach it are only the first two steps toward completion. If I make my plan and then go do other things, my plan is worthless. To reach the goal, I have to follow through. I have to do the things I say I’m going to do.

Those who boast about their plans but never complete them are like the second son. Nothing comes of their ambition or intention. On the other hand, those who follow through, whether they speak their plans or not, are like the first son. They get the job done.

* * *

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Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash