Greece Day 7 (part 1)

We left Athens around 9:00 am and headed for Leptokaria, our main objective was to arrive in time to help beginning the clean up process for the missions conference going on this weekend.  However, along the way, we had a few stops to make.

First stop – the battlefield where the infamous standoff between 300 Spartans and 1.7 million soldiers took place.  We went to the statue of the king of the Spartans, and were given a greater understanding of what that battle consisted of.  The mountains towered around us, and between the water and the mainland was a thoroughfare that was only large enough to  allow 2 chariots to pass, an easy bottle neck for the trained Spartan warriors.  If you don’t know the rest of the story, I would love to tell you about it, for the most part, the movie 300 records well the goings on of that battle.  However, what it does not record is that after Xerxes defeated the Spartans and traveled down and destroyed the city of Athens (which was deserted because the people were warned by the Spartans), his navy of 1400 ships, which carried the supplies for the 1.7 million soldiers was corralled in a small inlet by only 120 Greek ships, and when they realized their condition they actually ran their boats into each other and demolished their own naval fleet.  The amazing part about this story for believers in the Bible, is that after this defeat, the king Xerxes, headed back home to Persia and had a festival to make him feel better, during which he asked his wife to dance for him – she refused – and we end up with the story of Esther.  Yes, that is right, Xerxes was known in Hebrew as Ahasuarus.

Second stop – The Hot Springs of Thermapoly – the place where the Spartan warriors bathed in the 104 degree water.  Here, God gave me an interesting lesson on the passage we had read for devotions this morning.  Ephesians 2:10 talks about the fact that we were created for good works which “God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  As I was attempting to walk on the mossy marble in the hot springs, I found it to be nearly impossible.  The moss was like wet ice, extremely slippery.  I found out that if I dug my foot under the moss, and cleared the way to the grooved marble, you could walk with ease.  As I made my way upstream (had I found out earlier that upstream you could see the water coming out of the rock I would have gone further), I looked back and realized something amazing.  You could see in the dark green moss my footprints incredibly clearly just like imprint of where I had walked.  I said to the guys behind me – just walk in my footprints and you will travel across this area with ease – you will not slip or fall, it is neither slippery nor dangerous – just walk where I have already done the work of cleaning out the moss.  It was then I realized the lesson – God has gone before hand and prepared the “good works” I need to do – all I must do is follow His lead, step where He has stepped, and I will not fail.  Veer to the left or to the right, and the moss would take you downstream, but stay in the footprints (already established for you) and you will have great success.  Lord willing I will learn to do this better.

Third stop – Lunch at the Olympic Plaza.  Next stop – Leptokaria.