Watch Where You Make Your Trails

Some of the Texas countryside can be very dense and difficult to navigate. Tall grass and underbrush can also hide the numerous poisonous snakes that inhabit Texas. Thankfully most of the countryside is crisscrossed with many trails. These trails are typically made by herds of cows, or other types of livestock, as they move through the woods traveling from grazing areas to watering places and to sleeping areas. The cows typically follow the same trails, day after day, and spend a lot of time walking single file, leaving well-worn and deep-rutted trails. The cow’s large bodies trample down the under brush and shrubs, leaving a nice wide trail. Wildlife of all types follow these trails to get through the thick woods. Hunters, bikers, and hikers also use these trails. All the animals have the same excuse for using the existing trails; they all prefer to take the easy route that has already been cleared by others!

In the city parks and greenbelts, there are no cows to make the trails. The deer make small trails but quite often these trails are very narrow and are sometime blocked by low hanging limbs that only a deer could crawl under. I have noticed that the deer and other wildlife quickly start using the trails that I clear in the woods behind my house. It is rewarding to see one of my newly cleared trails full of animal tracks, only a day or two after I cleared the trail!

Just as the animals do, we humans tend to take the well worn paths. We are also creatures of habit. We tend to follow the “habits” or easy paths that others have cleared. When my son started his student driving I was shocked to hear the comments coming out of his mouth when someone rudely pulled out in front of him. I quickly recognized his “look at that crazy nut!” phrase as one that I had used! Hearing my son pick up my angry phrases caused me to rethink what I was saying. Realizing that our children and other Christians pickup our habits and follow our paths should make us more careful to insure that we follow good paths and be a good example for our fellow Christians. Romans 14:21 admonishes us not to do things that could cause our brothers to stumble. Live your life as best as you can, because you never know who is watching you and following in your footsteps