Living in Middle Tennessee, I have had to come to grips that I live in Bermuda Grass Country. Some may think this a blessing because of its high tolerance to heat and drought and its ability to withstand heavy use, but for me it is more akin to a sea creature sending out tentacles obliterating anything in its path.
Referred to as Dhoob, dog grass, devil’s grass, and scutch, this “lovely” sounding description of a grass, sends out its own form of tentacles which allows it to grow leaps and bounds ostensibly overnight. Creeping under and over brick and stone barriers, breaking through weed cloth and grey crush-n-run, and not ever seeming to die, it wraps itself around and eventually strangles whatever is in its way. In a short period of time, because of this persistent hideous grass, four of our well established shrubs met their early demise.
My son-in-law, Andy, who has recently started his new lawn care business, Mustard Seed Lawns, and has taken over the upkeep of ours, has come face-to-face with this stark reality. After spraying our graveled sidewalks now two separate times to no avail—the second with increased concentration of weed killer—he has declared, the battle is now personal.
It’s one for me too. But not only for my lawns.
The same struggle takes place within my heart almost every second of each and every day. Like the Bermuda Grass that seems to always reappear, things I try to overcome, squelch, vanquish, and change, pop up especially when all I want is for them to go away. When I want to be sweet, sassy sarcasm tends to fall out of my mouth instead. When I want to take the time to be caring, the stresses of life dictate to my heart, “You don’t possibly have any moments to spare.” As the apostle Paul wrote, “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” (See Romans 7:19.)
In preparation for a time of prayer at the end of this past Sunday’s sermon, the pastor was relaying a prayer request from a man who is battling cancer. Hoping—with treatments of chemotherapy and radiation—the disease was eradicated, he had instead received the disheartening news that it was now in his lymph nodes. His request. Please pray that God would kill the cancer. And that’s just what we prayed.
Later, in thinking back on this man’s cry for healing, it made me realize that’s what I wanted too. To be delivered from, to be free of the weeds of sin that sometimes feel like they are overrunning my heart.
This is nothing new. The Apostle Paul felt this way also. Read what he wrote to the Christians in Rome.
“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” Romans 7:21-25
Paul doesn’t leave us without hope though, but like one beggar taking another to where the bread is, he points us to the amazing grace he found.
“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4
Does that mean we will never sin again? Sadly, not at all. We still live in a fallen world and we get dirty by the sin we stumble and fall into. God in His love and mercy though, doesn’t leave us there. With the picture He gives us when He washed the disciples’ feet, He shows us that we, His children, need that same daily foot-washing also; that same cleansing that pulls weeds from our hearts. (See John 13:6-10.)
All we need to do is come to Him. Run to Him. He will never turn us away or let us go.
In His love,
Kimberly
