A friend of ours is the paster of Walnut Hills Baptist Chruch. He writes a blog called Parable Please. I asked if I could reprint this on my Gardening Blog. So with his permission...enjoy!
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Good Gardener
It pains me to look out my front door in the spring and summer.
Most days, I try to avoid it as much as possible.
Not that I have a problem with the neighbors.
I don't care about teenagers' cars parked in the street. I'm not concerned about any litter that has found its way into my front yard.
I don't even get upset anymore about people who drive way too fast down our cul-de-sac street.
The reason I hate to look out my front door...every single day in the spring and summer...is because I know what I will see popping up in my garden – WEEDS!
I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate weeds!
No matter how hard I work at trying to get rid of them...no matter how many times I send my son, Jordan, outside with weed-killer in hand...they just keep coming back.
I pull them. They come back.
I spray them. They come back.
I cut them. They come back.
I dig them up. They come back.
Just when I think they are all gone...when I finally feel that I can rest from my weed-whacking...just when I start to feel pretty good about how our garden looks......I take a peek out of my front door and there they are, popping up again!
It is a never-ending battle that I just can't seem to win.
In a way, weeds remind me a lot of sin.
Just like weeds, sin keeps popping up in my life no matter how hard I work to get rid of it.
I try to pull out sin by the roots, promising myself that I will "never do that again."But it comes back.
I try to spray out sin by sheer willpower, striving every day to do and say only the "right things."
It comes back.
I cut out sin by praying for help to "be stronger the next time."
It comes back.
I dig out sin by filling my free time with spiritual pursuits.
It comes back.
Like weeds, when I think I have overcome sin...when I finally feel I can rest...when I start to feel good about how well I am doing......there it is again, popping up in the garden of my life.
I just can't seem to win this never-ending battle against sin.And the truth is, I can't win it.
I have a sin nature that is a part of me, no matter how "good" I try to be every day.
There is only one way to get rid of these weeds of sin...I have to seek God's forgiveness through my faith in Jesus.
Here is how Paul described it in his letter to the Roman church..."What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it...I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't do it. I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway...something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time...Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions...Those who enter into Christ's being here for us no longer have to live under a continuous black cloud...The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (The Message, Romans 7:15-25, 8:1-2 selections)
The good news is that some day, I won't need to worry about the weeds in my garden anymore. When Jesus comes again, He will create a new earth which I believe will be without weeds.And I will live with Him there, in a place where sin is gone forever too.
Pastor Greg
A friend of ours is the paster of Walnut Hills Baptist Chruch. He writes a blog called Parable Please. I asked if I could reprint this on my Gardening Blog. So with his permission...enjoy!Monday, April 19, 2010
The Good Gardener
It pains me to look out my front door in the spring and summer.
Most days, I try to avoid it as much as possible.
Not that I have a problem with the neighbors.
I don't care about teenagers' cars parked in the street. I'm not concerned about any litter that has found its way into my front yard.
I don't even get upset anymore about people who drive way too fast down our cul-de-sac street.
The reason I hate to look out my front door...every single day in the spring and summer...is because I know what I will see popping up in my garden – WEEDS!
I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate weeds!
No matter how hard I work at trying to get rid of them...no matter how many times I send my son, Jordan, outside with weed-killer in hand...they just keep coming back.
I pull them. They come back.
I spray them. They come back.
I cut them. They come back.
I dig them up. They come back.
Just when I think they are all gone...when I finally feel that I can rest from my weed-whacking...just when I start to feel pretty good about how our garden looks......I take a peek out of my front door and there they are, popping up again!
It is a never-ending battle that I just can't seem to win.
In a way, weeds remind me a lot of sin.
Just like weeds, sin keeps popping up in my life no matter how hard I work to get rid of it.
I try to pull out sin by the roots, promising myself that I will "never do that again."But it comes back.
I try to spray out sin by sheer willpower, striving every day to do and say only the "right things."
It comes back.
I cut out sin by praying for help to "be stronger the next time."
It comes back.
I dig out sin by filling my free time with spiritual pursuits.
It comes back.
Like weeds, when I think I have overcome sin...when I finally feel I can rest...when I start to feel good about how well I am doing......there it is again, popping up in the garden of my life.
I just can't seem to win this never-ending battle against sin.And the truth is, I can't win it.
I have a sin nature that is a part of me, no matter how "good" I try to be every day.
There is only one way to get rid of these weeds of sin...I have to seek God's forgiveness through my faith in Jesus.
Here is how Paul described it in his letter to the Roman church..."What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it...I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't do it. I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway...something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time...Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions...Those who enter into Christ's being here for us no longer have to live under a continuous black cloud...The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (The Message, Romans 7:15-25, 8:1-2 selections)
The good news is that some day, I won't need to worry about the weeds in my garden anymore. When Jesus comes again, He will create a new earth which I believe will be without weeds.And I will live with Him there, in a place where sin is gone forever too.
Pastor Greg
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Good Gardener
It pains me to look out my front door in the spring and summer.
Most days, I try to avoid it as much as possible.
Not that I have a problem with the neighbors.
I don't care about teenagers' cars parked in the street. I'm not concerned about any litter that has found its way into my front yard.
I don't even get upset anymore about people who drive way too fast down our cul-de-sac street.
The reason I hate to look out my front door...every single day in the spring and summer...is because I know what I will see popping up in my garden – WEEDS!
I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate weeds!
No matter how hard I work at trying to get rid of them...no matter how many times I send my son, Jordan, outside with weed-killer in hand...they just keep coming back.
I pull them. They come back.
I spray them. They come back.
I cut them. They come back.
I dig them up. They come back.
Just when I think they are all gone...when I finally feel that I can rest from my weed-whacking...just when I start to feel pretty good about how our garden looks......I take a peek out of my front door and there they are, popping up again!
It is a never-ending battle that I just can't seem to win.
In a way, weeds remind me a lot of sin.
Just like weeds, sin keeps popping up in my life no matter how hard I work to get rid of it.
I try to pull out sin by the roots, promising myself that I will "never do that again."But it comes back.
I try to spray out sin by sheer willpower, striving every day to do and say only the "right things."
It comes back.
I cut out sin by praying for help to "be stronger the next time."
It comes back.
I dig out sin by filling my free time with spiritual pursuits.
It comes back.
Like weeds, when I think I have overcome sin...when I finally feel I can rest...when I start to feel good about how well I am doing......there it is again, popping up in the garden of my life.
I just can't seem to win this never-ending battle against sin.And the truth is, I can't win it.
I have a sin nature that is a part of me, no matter how "good" I try to be every day.
There is only one way to get rid of these weeds of sin...I have to seek God's forgiveness through my faith in Jesus.
Here is how Paul described it in his letter to the Roman church..."What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it...I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't do it. I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway...something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time...Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions...Those who enter into Christ's being here for us no longer have to live under a continuous black cloud...The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (The Message, Romans 7:15-25, 8:1-2 selections)
The good news is that some day, I won't need to worry about the weeds in my garden anymore. When Jesus comes again, He will create a new earth which I believe will be without weeds.And I will live with Him there, in a place where sin is gone forever too.
Pastor Greg
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