White Blazes and Spiritual Fruit
I was very blessed recently with the opportunity to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail, something I’ve always wanted to do. We hiked over 17 miles from Unicoi Gap , up mountains, over “knobs”, and through snow , to Dicks Creep Gap.. It was a great time to clear my head, grow closer with an old friend and make a new friend all at once.
This blog isn’t really about hiking though. I tend to find parallels between the spiritual and the natural often, but for some reason especially when I’m hiking (see this previous post), and my trip to the Appalachian Trail (hereafter referred to as the “AT”) was no different.
When hiking the AT, or most other well-established trails, there are markings placed periodically along the trail to let you know that you are still on the right path. These markings are called blazes (a 2”x6” rectangle painted along the trail). The chosen color for AT blazes is white.
A white blaze on the AT
When considering the trail and those markers, I couldn’t help but to think about the path one takes when walking with God. It can be easy to veer off of this “trail”, but thankfully it too has been carefully marked for us.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
The term “fruit of the Spirit” can be understood as Godly characteristics that one produces when they have God’s Spirit. If God does indeed dwell in His people, as the Bible says, then how can these things not be evident in our lives? As the little girl in a story I once heard told her preacher, “If something as big as Jesus was living in me He’d be sticking out everywhere!”
Exactly!
I’ve heard people claim that they are “fruit inspectors”. People who say this are drawing from Matthew 7:20 and usually use this to pass judgment about a person’s standing with God. I personally think this is a misapplication of the verse, as the context is talking specifically about false prophets. Furthermore, if we look at the whole of Matthew 7 we will learn that we should always consider our own faults before looking to the faults of others.
It is in this way that I think the fruits for the Spirit are the trail markers of a Godly life. Sure, others can see and even enjoy these fruits, but they are not just for others. These fruits serve as indicators that we are on the right path, that we are letting God’s brilliant light shine through us.
On the AT the white blazes can be as far as 1/4 mile apart, so you won’t see one on every tree you pass, and many times there won’t even be one within sight, but going too long without seeing one is a sure sign that something is wrong. Maybe you’ve taken a wrong turn. I see a great parallel in this fact as well, as I know the fruits of the Spirit are not always evident in my own life. I can be very impatient, and I sometimes lose my temper (this is just a small sampling of a very long list of my personal faults). But very often I find a white blaze just around the bend; the weight of my foolishness bringing me low and helping me to be meek, love and peace moving me to apologize and make things right. The fruits will not allow you to do wrong and get by.
So take a look around, not at the trail myself or another is walking, but you’re own. When’s the last time you passed a blaze?
Do you pass them frequently?
Or rarely?
When you do pass them are they freshly painted white?
Or are they faded?
Thanks for reading, and enjoy these pictures from the hike.
God bless!
