One small step for man, one giant step for mankind. That was what Neil Armstrong said as he made history being the first person to step foot onto the moon. As famous as that line was, did Armstrong really understand what he was doing? Did he really know how his one step onto the moon would change the course of science, history, and culture?
I often find myself thinking about questions like. It makes me think about my own life, and my own choices. What small steps can I take today that may change the course of history? Okay. Maybe not world history. But the history of my life. Maybe even the history of those around me.
Sometimes the simplest action can transform everything.
That’s what I was thinking of as I read the introduction to Luke’s gospel. In it he addresses the whole work to a man named Theophilus. Now historians aren’t exactly sure who Theophilus was. Some of the leading ideas are that he was a non-believer, but open to the idea of Jesus being God. Another idea is that Theophilus was a wealthy believer who just wanted to better understand what living out a life of faith looked like. Something I can relate to. (The understanding, not the money!) There are other theories, but those are the most likely.
I have to think that Theophilus had no idea what he was putting into motion. He had no idea that millions of people would still read the book he had (most likely) funded. It’s easy to forget that sometimes the littlest actions can have the most impact. We never know when taking a few minutes to read a story to a kid can change their life. Or instead of cutting someone off in traffic, we let them merge. Yet time and again we see major life change happening with a simple moment.
God has a strange way of taking the small and turning it into the extraordinary.
photo provided by NASA
