Just Between You, Me, & God 6/25/2012

Call me crazy, but I enjoy mowing and working in my yard. Even during the heat of the summer, I get a certain satisfaction after I’m done by looking at the transformation of a weedy and ragged looking yard into a trimmed and cut yard that has some curb appeal. Now I’m no master gardener by any means and after last summers’ drought and heat wave I have more weeds than real grass but when watered and maintained, it’s still green and from a distance looks decent. If you want the grass to grow, you have to water and it helps to feed it also. The thing is that you can’t just water the good grass and not the weeds and when you spread fertilizer it covers everything the same, good grass and weeds. They say that weeds are generally anything growing in your yard that you don’t want. When Christ died on the cross, He bore the sins of the world, He didn’t die for a few but for everyone. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.” He knew that what He had to work with was all weeds, all sinners, so if you put down weed killer and all you have is weeds, then there is nothing left, there is no hope. With Christ Jesus we have hope, His death is the transformation from an overgrown raggedy existence to a vibrant manicured life fashioned after that of the Master Gardener Himself. He brings living water and life to a world suffering from a drought and heat wave that has seperated us from our Creator who offers us our only relief, our only hope, our only salvation by allowing the only good grass to die in order that we, the weeds, may live. As we learn to live in the light and nourishment of Jesus we can be transformed into that beautiful green grass that He desires. 1 Peter 2:24 gives us growth in the knowledge that, "He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed." Refresh yourself from the drought of this life with the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and then share this Good News with others so that they too may be encouraged with the Hope we have in Christ. Feed yourself daily in His Word and grow in His likeness, Pastor Dean.