March 22 – “Holy Weed ‘n’ Feed”

I spent the morning at Seaside Christian Academy yesterday.  I didn't do anything I wouldn't have done differently at my home office, though.  Stayed on the computer the whole time.  I just had to bring all the books I was using to prepare for the sermon with me.  Made for a really heavy briefcase.   Along with the sermon, I also did my article for the website and ordered the community giveaway for the Easter Sunrise Service.  I had to put it on our personal credit card.  Maybe someone else will pitch in to help us out with it, but Chris and I figured it was $535 well spent even if we end up covering it all.   As my ability to concentrate slowly departed, we moved back out into the yard.  I mowed the grass.  It is becoming more and more apparent that we need to get the mower and the guy who pushes the mower serviced.  Christina told us there is a lawn mower repair place near their Galveston house.  Chris said she heard Home Depot had a lawn mower repair department as well.  Sounds like the machine is covered.  What about the guy pushing it?  Chris did the edging, so I then went back to more weed pulling, this time in the back 40.  Now that the Weed 'n' Feed is dong its job, looks like there will be some big brown patches back there.    I noticed something while pulling up weed after weed this time.  When I tried to do the pulling when the weeds were still green, they sure did fight back a lot.  It was like some little strong man was down there tugging back.  And even when I was able to get a hunk out, there was always the fear that some of that root remained behind to fight another day.  And in most cases, fight it did.  And for me it sure felt like a losing battle.  I needed some outside help to get this stuff under control.  I had to choose between an entire summer of fighting a never-ending war of the weeds and bringing in reinforcements.  I went on the internet and checked with all the experts.  Enter the Weed 'n' Feed.  That stuff is amazing.  It spreads out and sinks in deep to get at the roots of the evil weeds-that-grow-in-a-circle.  And in the process it feeds the good grass and encourages it to grow stronger and greener.    Wow.  What an application.  How can farmers not be Christians?  Life is so much like that.  We fight a struggle every day with sin that is so deeply rooted in us that no matter how many times we try to get it under control, there is still just enough of that root to keep it alive and kicking.  We try and try to do better, but there's another spot … and another.  We get more and more frustrated.  And finally we reach the point of decision.  Am I going to get some help, or just live my life in this constant state of struggle?  So we cry out.  "God, help me."  We throw ourselves at the mercy of Jesus, the Life Expert.  Enter the Holy Spirit.  Like the Weed 'n' Feed, he permeates our life, reaching down past the symptoms and into the root of our problem, our sin nature.  And he changes us.  He gives us a new nature.  No longer are we controlled by the never ending root system.  Now the "good grass" has an opportunity to grow.  We get stronger and stronger.  Oh, there are still times when the weeds grow up within us, but it's so much easier to nip one or two in the bud that to face an army with a broken down lawn mower and a pair of holey gloves.   Here's a song to get stuck in your head for the day.  It was the one that grabbed me yesterday.  I don't know the title.  It's probably in there somewhere … I will fear no evil.  For my God is with me.  And if my God is with me, whom then shall I fear?  Whom then shall I fear?  O no, you never let go.   Isaiah 60:1 says, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."   Father, thank you for never letting go.  Please be my Weed 'n' Feed again today.  Amen.