Print This PostWhat is hidden hurts us all
For the last week or so I have been helping my buddy, Bob, try to eradicate years of unchecked growth out at his mom’s house in Taneytown. We have tackled forsythia bushes that must be over 12 feet tall. Trying to trim these bushes back to something manageable AND manicured is almost a no-win situation. Forget trimming! This is war! Maple trees 10 and 12 feet tall are growing up in the midst of the small jungle of forsythia. To make matters worse, the poison ivy is waiting at bay for the poor unsuspecting arm or leg to make it’s appearance.
The only way to make everything look normal is to cut a few branches back, lop off some of the most visible top-enders and basically let nature take it’s course. Assuming that you don’t mind a few trees and a lot of poison with assorted birds and rodents living within this small ecosystem growing in your mom’s yard.
Sounds like sin management to me. You know, a little less alcohol the next time, not as angry as you used to get, only fantasize about the good-looking guy at work because it’s NOT ok to have an affair. Maybe you are like me and you don’t have any MAJOR issues with sin in your life, at least as far as others can see, or I will admit. The truth is I do struggle with my thoughts, my words, my actions. I bet you do too. As far as I can tell, there was only one perfect person to walk this earth and they crucified Him.
So, let’s get real. Let’s admit that there are things in our life that are not what they appear. Yes, God sees us as sinless. That’s because he is seeing us through the cross and what it cost our Savior and best friend, Jesus. Jesus is closer to us than our next breath. When we go down those rabbit holes of sin-let’s call it like it is-Jesus is right there with us. When we look at those pictures just a little too long, or contemplate what that extra scoop of ice cream will taste like, Jesus is right there with us. He is a brother that’s sticks closer than a friend, remember. Where we go, He goes.
The first step of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is “WE admitted we were powerless over alcohol (you name yours), and that OUR lives had become unmanageable.” First of all, it is a WE program. We can’t do it alone. In AA, our family, our church, our ministries, our communities, our nation. We have to work together. Jesus died for the WE program called the Church. It is HIS Body. Bought with a price. Someone once said that Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe to settle a debt WE couldn’t pay. It is not just you..or me. It is us.
Then we have to admit that there are things in our lives that we don’t have a handle on. Our thought lives, our temper, our pride, our pocketbooks; you name it, it’s there. When we admit that there is a problem, and the problem starts with me, then WE can get to the root of the problem and dig it up, roots and all. Letting any bush, or field, or life go too long without some serious pruning and weeding only makes the inevitable clean-up that more costly and invasive.
Let’s get real with God, with ourselves, and some other person we can trust. A well-tended life is productive and beautiful. If WE don’t do it, then God will. Our choice. Got any hedgetrimmers?
July 15th, 2008 at 12:11 am
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” – John 15:1-5
He prunes every branch that bears fruit so it can grow MORE fruit.