You know I have these chickens. I started with eight and I’m down to five. They’re very structured little creatures. I open the coop in the morning and they follow me to the barn to get something to eat. They hop out of the coop white girl, white girl, red girl, black girl, black girl. We’re down to calling them by color because their molting makes it hard to otherwise tell them apart. After getting a bite to eat, a drink and dessert, the girls head out for their free range day to do what chickens do. Walk, eat, chatter. Red girl, black girl, black girl, white girl, white girl. Despite their light weight, over time, they have forged that path you see. These five little chickens weighing 2-3 pounds each – light as a feather, travel that path daily. That’s only one path they’ve created and on every path, they leave their mark behind. See the feather?
When I first noticed that path, it made me think, if those tiny little chickens forged that path, what does my path look like, being a little more weighty, I speak for myself. The point is, we’re all on a path, a journey, and just like my little white girl, we all leave our marks behind. We drop our feathers along the way. The relationship path. The family path. The Church path. The work path. The sports path. The grocery path. Good or bad on all those paths we’ve left a mark. We think we don’t, but we do.
So I ask myself, what path have I created? What mark have I made? Good or bad? What have I dropped along the way? I close my eyes when I think about these questions. Right off the top of my head there are so many paths I know I shouldn’t have traveled, and so many marks I wish I hadn’t made. Let me give you a little example. At work the other day, I had a particularly frustrating call. Of course, I was all smiles on the line, but then I hung up. Ahhhh!!! I walked down the hall fusing,fuming, and neck swiveling like no other. Folks saw me fussing, fuming and some where even concerned for my poor neck. Then it hit me. I just marked the path I walked. Thank you Lord for revealing, I’m sorry about that mark. You see the mark I made was not a Godly mark, it was a full out Bethly mark. Not the mark I want to make on my path. How about you? Can you think of a similar mark you made today? We don’t always get to determine our path although most times we do through our own life choices. But, we always get to choose how we mark our path. People will remember the feathers we leave behind.
Wednesday
Check out Ephesians 5:1-5 and 1 John 2:6 – What path are you on? Whose example are you following? What marks are you leaving behind? Are they marks of sweet perfume?
Thursday
Read Matthew 27:31-54 – Jesus followed the path before Him. The path set forth before time began. What mark did Jesus make on the world? What did He leave behind?
Friday
Study Mark 16:15 – Jesus set forth the path for all Believers. Have we applied this path to our life? Are we following the path set out by Him? If so, what are the marks on the path?
Saturday
Read Matthew 5:13-16 – How does Jesus tell us to mark our path? Look up more examples that Jesus gave us for marking our path.
Sunday
Spend time in prayer. Seeking the Lord’s path and how He wants you to mark that path.
Monday
Study 1 Timothy 4:12 – Paul’s charge to Timothy. On our paths, we are to leave behind marks of speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. Think about your life and whether or not those specific marks left behind are good or bad? Positive or negative? Do we need to changes paths? Do we need to ask forgiveness for the marks?
Tuesday
Read 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8 – Think about your life. As we follow the path set out by God, in what ways can we be examples, can we make a Godly mark?