Snow trails, conclusion

This week, we have talked about leaving footprints in the snow. We're concluding our study today with this thought:
We will be able to look behind us and see where we have been; we will be able to see the path we've walked.

We started this week with the mental image of a large, open field, newly blanketed with snow. The crystals glisten and beckon to us to come and explore. We have decisions to make - which way to go? We will leave our footprints behind us, and others may walk along in our pathway. But those same footprints can be helpful to us, as well . . .
When I get to the other side of my pasture, and turn to look back at the house, I can see the lights inside (if we still have power!) gleaming brightly. The house looks warm and inviting. The mountain stretches upward, coated in the same blanket of white. Looking across the field, I can see my footprints -- I can see all of the detours that I took, zigging and zagging about, looking at various things that interested me. I can see where I slipped into that hole and got all snowy when I fell. (Mental note made to fill that hole when I next start up the tractor!) I can see where I took very long steps to get over limbs and obstacles. I also see very short strides trudging up the long hill to where I now stand.

Someday, as I look back on my life, I will be able to see it just as I see my footprints in the snow. I will be able to consider the choices that I have made. I will see the mistakes that I've made, and the times that I have fallen down. I'll see the times that I failed the Lord, and then got up and brushed off and started again. I'll see places and times that I gave in to sin, and to temptation. Times that I should have stood fast in God's power. I'll even see in my minds eye the faces of the people that I hurt by my failures and my unforgiving spirit.

But hopefully, I will also see many good things in my pathway. I will see times that I kept going with His help and made it up a very long "hill." I will see times that He helped me climb over some large obstacles in my life. Hopefully, I will see some right decisions and the blessings that flowed from them. I think that most of us will see a mixture when we look back -- some good things, and some bad.
There's a way to turn bad into good. When we confess our sins and failures to God, we can make things right with those that we have hurt. Then we can determine to make the right choices in the future, and to rely on His strength and grace instead of our own puny strengths. That is the kind of attitude that will help us to see wonderful and precious things in the trials and troubles.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:1-2, 28)

Are you like me? Do you want to leave this world as the Apostle Paul did?

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (II Timothy 4:6-8)

What a triumphant way to face the future! Paul could say that when he was looking back at the course he'd chosen, and the choices he'd made.

Perhaps you've been reading here and your are not yet trusting Christ as your Savior. Joshua asks us all, "Choose this day whom you will serve." Who will you serve? Do you feel it's just too hard to be a Christian? Are you longing for something real? Something that's totally different from what the world offers? Listen to Jesus:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

If you've not yet trusted Him, I ask you to click on the right-hand side bar and learn what it is to be a Christian, and then pray to become a follower of Jesus Christ.
If you're a believer reading here today, perhaps you, too have a choice you need to make. Perhaps you need to surrender a sin that is an obstacle in your relationship with God. Maybe it's something you are doing; maybe it's something you should be doing, but you're not. Maybe God has asked you to surrender to Him and join a local group of believers. Maybe He has asked you to follow Him in baptism, or to surrender to full-time Christian work. Or maybe it's just that He is calling you to walk more closely with Him, and to spend more time in prayer and study, learning from the Spirit.

We're just a little way into the new year. 2019 is like that pasture, blanketed with new snow. What kind of trail will you leave?