Clearing the Trail

Have you ever been a part of the Boy or Girl Scouts? If so, you were given the opportunity to learn many of life's lessons from Scouting. Through that experience 51 years ago, I was involved with my Scout Troop in establishing a national hiking trail that is still being used today. Our farm was only nine miles from the birthplace of Ulysses S. Grant, our eighteenth President. He attended school as a young man in a town 30 miles away, so our Troop set a goal to blaze the trail following the path he walked daily for the Dan Beard Scouting Council in Ohio. Our job was to mark the trail with permanent identification markers. We took big rocks and made milestones for everyone to see. We made metal markers and placed them on trees for others to follow. It was a lot of fun.

Then we came to the dense brush where we had to use machetes and cut through five-foot high weeds and briers. We were no longer having fun as the briars cut though our skin and mosquitoes buzzed around our heads. About eighteen miles into the trail, we saw a farmhouse about a quarter of a mile away. To the disapproval of our Scoutmaster, we began running across the field toward the farmhouse in hopes of filling our canteens.

We quickly found out why our leader did not want us going in that direction. Off to our right was a huge bull, watching our every move. As the Scoutmaster yelled for us to stop, the bull began moving closer. Looking around, we saw a fence about fifty feet to our left. We first started walking slowly toward the fence, but with the bull now in full stride, we started running for the fence, all the while yelling at the top of our lungs. Thankfully, we all outran the bull.

During the rest of the trail blazing, we obeyed every order of our Scoutmaster. We set every marker that was needed for generations of hikers to follow. In Luke 3: 3-4, we see John the Baptist also blazing a trail. A trail that led to Jesus. He called for people to repent and reminded them that the Lord was near. His message was clear and to the point. Unlike my scouting friends and me, John never left the trail. Even when confronted by adversaries, he boldly preached the message that God had prepared in his heart.

Just as the US Grant Trail is still in use today because a bunch of kids marked the way, the message of Jesus continues to heal and enlighten over 2000 years later because, in part, of the trail that John blazed.

What about you? Are you blazing any trails with your life that reflects Christ's love? Will it affect generations to come? All you have to do is make yourself available. And watch out for briars.