Snails, Trails and the Secret Place
Snails . . .
Just out for a Saturday morning jog; worshipping God while listening to my iPod. Looking down I see shiny little trails along the edge the sidewalk. The sidewalk borders a business with lush landscaping in front. We have always commented how beautifully kept the place is . . . almost like a garden. As the sun hits the sidewalk, the shiny trails are bright and iridescent - a few here and there, some places more trails than others. Some trails are close to the edge and some go all over the place but they all lead back to THE GARDEN. Imagine if the whole sidewalk were filled with these trails. How shiny and reflective and bright!
What do I have in common with a snail . . .
It becomes all so obvious to me. We like snails, get our nourishment from the garden. They must have nourishment to leave the shiny slime trail. And while most gardeners would think a snail a pest as he eats the beautiful plants and flowers, God beckons us to His garden to eat. To spend time alone with Him. To KNOW Him. To eat the bread of life. To eat from the Tree of Life: Jesus. The glistening comes as the light of the SON hits us signifying his glory and we will leave a glory trail wherever we go. As more of us that go to the garden to fill up with time in the secret place and then venture out into the earth, the more His glory will be carried all over the earth.
Just out for a Saturday morning jog; worshipping God while listening to my iPod. Looking down I see shiny little trails along the edge the sidewalk. The sidewalk borders a business with lush landscaping in front. We have always commented how beautifully kept the place is . . . almost like a garden. As the sun hits the sidewalk, the shiny trails are bright and iridescent - a few here and there, some places more trails than others. Some trails are close to the edge and some go all over the place but they all lead back to THE GARDEN. Imagine if the whole sidewalk were filled with these trails. How shiny and reflective and bright!
What do I have in common with a snail . . .
It becomes all so obvious to me. We like snails, get our nourishment from the garden. They must have nourishment to leave the shiny slime trail. And while most gardeners would think a snail a pest as he eats the beautiful plants and flowers, God beckons us to His garden to eat. To spend time alone with Him. To KNOW Him. To eat the bread of life. To eat from the Tree of Life: Jesus. The glistening comes as the light of the SON hits us signifying his glory and we will leave a glory trail wherever we go. As more of us that go to the garden to fill up with time in the secret place and then venture out into the earth, the more His glory will be carried all over the earth.
Another thing: Snail slime acts as a lubricant, allowing it to crawl up a wall and across a ceiling without falling off. Do you need that ability to crawl up a wall or hang from the ceiling without falling off because life in the natural seems so upside down or out of control? When the snail stops, the structure of the slime reforms and the snail must push through until he breaks the structure of the slime and is able to glide forward again. If you stop moving in Christ, you will have to push through to break the structure created when you stopped. SO WE MUST KEEP MOVING and the only way to do that is with the grace and strength HE provides; it comes from time spent in the SECRET PLACE.
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