While walking my pup on our trail in the backwoods one winter morning, I came across monstrous footprints. I’m accustomed to seeing dog prints, a few cat prints, and occasionally a deer or a fox print.
But these prints were huge.
My first thought was that they might be wolf prints. Or maybe even lynx. And then I quickly realized that they were nothing more than the previous day’s dog prints, slowly melting and looking much more prominent than usual.
I sighed in relief, especially since we’d recently been walking the trail at night!
But it did get me thinking. Whether we mean to or not, we leave traces of us wherever we’ve been. Some things are apparent, like footprints, but others are not so obvious.
Like the hope we left in someone’s heart when we encouraged them with prayer.
Or the morals and values we instill in our little ones as we raise them.
Or, on the unfortunate side, the hurt or pain we’ve left with someone by using harsh words and our sharp tongues.
More than anything, I want to leave traces of my faith in God.
I want to leave His hope in others, His light in the darkness, His love in all I meet.
In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul says this to Timothy: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” (ESV)
While on this earth, we will continue to make mistakes and fall short of perfection, but how awesome would it be if, even amidst our shortcomings, we left a legacy of faith in our wake?
Let this be our daily goal.