![]()
Several miles of trails meander through the woods behind my house. I like to keep the trails clean so I can creep along them quietly and observe the wildlife. Dead branches and leaves are continually falling. I have appointed my self as keeper of the trails. I spend time raking the trails and trimming back the ever-growing braches and vines. Keeping the trails clean is a continual process, year 'round. The spring and summer require continual trimming of the new growth to keep it from taking over the trail. The fall and winter require removal of dead tree limbs and branches, after every cold front. Sometimes I spend several hours raking the trails, only to see them covered again the next day by wind-blown leaves. The occasional thunderstorm can fell complete trees and sometimes requires rerouting the trails. During one recent winter ice storm (yes, we do have the occasional ice storm in Texas!) I kept hearing what sounded like gun shots in the woods. I later realized that it was large trees and tree limbs that were cracking and breaking under the heavy weight of the ice. After the several-days-long ice storm, the woods resembled a war zone with dozens of fallen trees and limbs. It took several hours of work to get the trails back to normal!
I have noticed that within several months, the woods can completely take over a trail. Just today I took an old trail that I had not used in three or four months. I was surprised to see that the trail was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding woods. Leaves and branches almost totally covered the trail and grass and weeds were starting to grow along the trail.
![]()
Guarding and keeping our soul is very similar to the effort it takes to keep the trails clean and groomed. Our souls require regular and constant attention. If we do not regularly cleanse our souls, sin has a way of quickly appearing and taking up residence. Sometimes sin crashes down on us like a tree falling during a sudden, violent thunderstorm, doing its damage quickly. These big sins are obvious and leave no doubt that we need take action to get rid of them. Other times, sin slowly creeps in like the tiny weeds that appear in the trail. At first these sins are small and almost unnoticeable. We may see issues in our lives that appear so small and insignificant. Given time, even these seemingly insignificant issues can grow to be major thorns in our lives, if we do not address them. Sometimes we only cut back the "weeds" in our lives and soon they grow right back as they were. When we see these little weeds in our lives, we need to quickly pull them up, roots and all. In life sometimes we just address the symptoms of a problem, but what we really need to do is get to the “root” of the problem and eliminate it. Make sure you keep you soul clean and groomed and you will enjoy many happy days in your life!
Several miles of trails meander through the woods behind my house. I like to keep the trails clean so I can creep along them quietly and observe the wildlife. Dead branches and leaves are continually falling. I have appointed my self as keeper of the trails. I spend time raking the trails and trimming back the ever-growing braches and vines. Keeping the trails clean is a continual process, year 'round. The spring and summer require continual trimming of the new growth to keep it from taking over the trail. The fall and winter require removal of dead tree limbs and branches, after every cold front. Sometimes I spend several hours raking the trails, only to see them covered again the next day by wind-blown leaves. The occasional thunderstorm can fell complete trees and sometimes requires rerouting the trails. During one recent winter ice storm (yes, we do have the occasional ice storm in Texas!) I kept hearing what sounded like gun shots in the woods. I later realized that it was large trees and tree limbs that were cracking and breaking under the heavy weight of the ice. After the several-days-long ice storm, the woods resembled a war zone with dozens of fallen trees and limbs. It took several hours of work to get the trails back to normal! 
Guarding and keeping our soul is very similar to the effort it takes to keep the trails clean and groomed. Our souls require regular and constant attention. If we do not regularly cleanse our souls, sin has a way of quickly appearing and taking up residence. Sometimes sin crashes down on us like a tree falling during a sudden, violent thunderstorm, doing its damage quickly. These big sins are obvious and leave no doubt that we need take action to get rid of them. Other times, sin slowly creeps in like the tiny weeds that appear in the trail. At first these sins are small and almost unnoticeable. We may see issues in our lives that appear so small and insignificant. Given time, even these seemingly insignificant issues can grow to be major thorns in our lives, if we do not address them. Sometimes we only cut back the "weeds" in our lives and soon they grow right back as they were. When we see these little weeds in our lives, we need to quickly pull them up, roots and all. In life sometimes we just address the symptoms of a problem, but what we really need to do is get to the “root” of the problem and eliminate it. Make sure you keep you soul clean and groomed and you will enjoy many happy days in your life! 
No comments:
Post a Comment