It’s a weed. It’s green. It’s aggressive. It blends in with the grass. And, it kills.
Now that the morning temperature and humidity in Mobile are conducive to outdoor considerations, I take some of my think/pray time to the porch and yard. As I walked around in what could be a beautiful carpet of St. Augustine grass, I noticed an intruder among those beautiful broad green blades.
I don’t know what it’s called…it’s just a weed, and it’s everywhere. Sometime since the last time I really looked, this Thing has choked out a lot of prime St. Aug real estate. I did the weed & feed deal last spring, but, clearly, the Thing didn’t get the memo.
The yard, from a distance, appears to be a representation of pure beauty. But, the Thing had replaced so much grass that the yard is, in reality, a mess…nothing near what it was intended to be.
Somewhere into the third five-gallon bucket of pulled weed, it hit me that had I inspected and pulled regularly, the yard would still be pure beauty. But, it had been hot, and I was busy…people to see; things to do…you know the drill. While I was distracted, the Thing took over. The only way to restore the beauty is to pull weeds.
America was once influenced by the things of God. The nation’s founders spoke and wrote extensively in public and private forums on the importance of individual and corporate attendance to the things of God for the good of the nation.
Somewhere along the way, and under the watch of my generation, that influence began a sharp decline. The decline has been so prevalent that the same institutional churches and denominational organizations, which, only a few years ago, exercised influence at national levels, are now impotent by comparison. And, the nation, once predominantly Christian in its culture, is no longer such.
Now, wait…don’t start with how nasty the culture has become, or how we lost prayer in schools, or whether the church is relevant or not. Those among us who consider ourselves to be followers of Christ…you know, the “salt and light” bunch…need to start by checking our own yard. The Thing is sin, and it has been tolerated in our personal lives and thinking so long that we are accustomed to it. There is very little salinity, and the lights are dim. We are nothing near what we are intended to be.
The only way to restore the power and influence is to get rid of the Thing…pull the weeds…not from someone else’s yard but from our own. It isn’t easy, and it isn’t convenient, but the alternative is a nation lost to the influence of Christ.
Do you have the intestinal fortitude to ask God to point out the weeds wherever they may be in your life and, by his power, pull them? Or, will you continue to tolerate the junk and talk a lot?
I really want our nation back. Grab a bucket and meet me in the yard.
More later.
