I was headed over to the woodshed to load up the wheelbarrow with a load of firewood (to take around to the back of the house), when I noticed a bear paw-print in the flowerbed.
You can see this bear paw-print in today’s background photo. If you aren’t quite sure what to look for, in the very center of the photo you can see an indentation in the dirt … with four distinct “toe” impressions at the top, then a large wide pad-of-the-paw just below the “toes.”
It has been raining a lot, so the ground was soft … therefore, when the bear passed by, the heaviness of its weight resulted in a deep impression in the ground of its paw-print.
This paw-print wasn’t the only one. It was just the most clearly obvious one. There were other deep impressions in the ground where the other four paws had landed … and you could follow these impressions up through the flowerbed.
The spacing of the other paw-print impressions gave a clear indication of the width between the paws … and therefore an indication of how big the bear was in size.
I know what kind of animal it was … because of the impression in the ground that was left behind.
In the same way, people also leave “impressions” in the ground as they “walk along the path of life.”
People claim to be Christians. They claim to love God. They claim to love the Bible.
But as they “walk along the path of life” they leave behind deep impressions of resentment. Across life’s surface there is a clear trail left behind with deep imprints of bitterness and unforgiveness.
Just like the heavy bear paw-print gave clear indication of exactly what animal had passed by, so also the imprints left behind in someone’s life gives clear indication of who they really are.
Psalm 1 describes the blessed person being like a fruitful tree.
The fruit tells the truth.
The fruit doesn’t lie.
Just like it was clearly obvious that a large, heavy bear had passed through my flowerbed, so also it is clearly obvious the spiritual fruitfulness / or lack of spiritual fruitfulness in someone’s life.
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. … The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:43-45
“Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. … Thus, by their fruit you will know them.” – Matthew 7:17, 20
