Demonstrating that you really don’t know what lies around the next corner (literally), drivers heading into downtown St. Paul today see this image of me running around Lake of the Isles.

Five years ago, I would have had trouble running to the end of the block.  But at my prosthetist’s encouragement, I was fitted with a running prosthesis and it has been great fun.  The leg works really well and I have been blessed to have run a couple thousand miles over the past few years.

Running was the one activity that I had missed not having a right foot.  As a teenager I would run the mile course near our house or around the high school track.  To be back on the running trail in this season of my life is an unexpected gift.

But there is more to come, and this is where I have fully set my hope.

Reading through the betrayal and arrest of Jesus last week, these sentences grabbed my attention:

“And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus said, ”No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.”  (Luke 22:50-51)

Imagine the scene.  Out comes the sword and in a moment some guy is looking at his ear on the ground.  The ear isn’t just damaged or mangled — it is gone.  What a shock it must have been for him to be separated from his ear.  But it is absolutely no trouble for Jesus to restore it.  He simply touches what was left and:  a new ear!  All of the intricate tissues and ligaments and skin were created anew and it was shaped just right so that sound could travel down his ear canal.

Those of us who belong to Jesus are looking ahead to the restoration of our bodies in the coming age.  He has promised it in His word and has given us demonstrations of His healing power while He walked on earth.  He can replace an ear and He can replace a right foot.  Complete healing awaits God’s children when our bodies are restored in the next life.

I am delighted and thankful to be able to run around Lake of the Isles with my prosthetic leg.  But one of the joys of eternity for me will be putting on a pair of shoes and running with two feet on a heavenly trail.

” . . . set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  1 Peter 1:13