The number of lessons to be learned from everyday life experiences is truly staggering. I encountered another good "life transformation" lesson at 6:00 am this morning. We were able to get in a flower bed in front of the house recently. It is nothing fancy - just something to provide a little color until we can get around to more serious landscaping.
Well, I got a pick-up load of top-soil ( it is actually the potting soil used by a local nursey - they dump the leftovers in a pile each season) to put in the bed. Because the source pile is out in the woods, is very rich in fertilizer etc., it has a lot of grass seed that has migrated into it. The result is that it grows flowers very well - but also all the grass that is mixed in it.
We have pulled the grass once already - but it was a bit later in the day and much hotter - so we were in a hurry and did not get it all out by the roots! This morning, early, I started again pulling it out more carefully and by the roots.
Now here is the lesson. Sin will choke out our spiritual life - just like grass will choke out a flower bed. It is sometimes hot, dirty business getting past sin in our life. However, if we take the time to get to the root of each sin in our life, we can be free from it - that particular sin does not have to ever come back. But it must be pulled out by the root cause!
Too often we get in a hurry and just pull out the obvious "surface" conditions of sin. Our life appears better, cleaner - but the root of the sin is still in our heart and within a few days, weeks, or even minutes and hours, it is back! This is what happened in our flower bed. We started out well the first time - pulling it out by the roots. But as we grew weary and hot, we moved ever faster, just snatching the grass shoots above ground. GUESS WHAT! It grew back.
This morning I took longer - but much more carefully and methodically I pulled up every piece of grass that I could by the roots! There may be some new grass to come up - but what I pulled this morning will be gone forever! Oh, I did not quite finish! When I realized I was about to get in a hurry, I stopped. I am not suggesting that we stop from getting to the root of our sin! But, as we confess and let go - we sometimes have to take a breath, and let God continue to reveal Himself to us at a pace we will maintain.
Tomorrow morning, very early, I will pull up the rest. Then the key is to look each day, and pull up what is coming up! The same is true with sin! Each day, pull up what is coming up! That way we never get overwhelmed and we spend less and less time having to deal with sin!
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