SCRIPTURE

Psalm 19:1–2 (NASB95)

1The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.

1 John 2:3–6 (NASB95)

3By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

COWBOY WISDOM

An old hand who knows how to read sign can tell you a remarkable amount from a few tracks in the mud — whether the horse was shod or barefoot, whether it was walking easy or moving out at a lope, whether it was carrying a heavy load, which way it was headed and how long ago it passed. Tracks don’t lie, and they don’t care what the rider says about himself back at the bunkhouse. If you want to know where somebody has really been going, you don’t ask; you look at the trail they’ve left.

God has left plenty of sign for anybody willing to look. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Paul says creation makes His “eternal power and divine nature” so “clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). He has written sign on the human heart too, with every person’s “conscience bearing witness” (Romans 2:15). And clearest of all, He has laid His tracks out in His Word: “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). The more time you spend reading His sign, the better you come to know the One who left it.

But here’s the turn: folks are reading our sign too. John doesn’t mince words: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” That’s the question underneath this whole week — are we living like we know God? Anybody can talk a good game in the pew on Sunday, but the tracks we leave Monday through Saturday tell the real story: how we talk about folks when they’re not around, how we handle our money, how we treat the people nobody else notices. “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

The good news is that a changed trail is some of the most powerful testimony there is. Plenty of people never read a word of Scripture until they read it in the life of somebody who walked with God. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). You don’t have to be loud about it. Just keep walking close to Him, day after day, and let the tracks pile up. Someday somebody may follow that trail right to the Savior.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. Where have you most clearly seen God’s “sign” — in creation, in your conscience, or in His Word? What did it tell you about Him?
2. If someone followed your tracks from this past week, where would they say you were headed?
3. First John 2:6 says we ought to “walk in the same manner as He walked.” What’s one area where your walk and your words don’t match up yet?
4. Who might be reading your trail right now — a child, a coworker, a neighbor? What do you hope they find at the end of it?

PRAYER FOCUS

Father, thank You for writing Your glory across the sky, on my conscience, and on every page of Your Word, so that I could come to know You. Now let my life leave sign that points back to You. Where my walk hasn’t matched my words, change my steps. Help me live like I truly know You, so that someone following my trail might find their way to Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.