Decisive
Image: Keith Cassill https://www.pexels.com/@inspired2love/
There is a sound I have been hearing more frequently over the last few weeks. It is the noise of lawnmowers.
As we emerge into spring, the sun, rain and lighter evenings have all contributed to our gardens bursting into life.
It’s been lovely to see the grass growing, beautiful blossom and fresh, bright green shoots appearing.
But alongside that, weeds have also grown and I have been removing them in our garden.
I have learnt that if I don’t get the root of the weeds out, they will return. In other words, I have to deal decisively with them.
Whilst pottering around in the garden, I was reminded of what I had been reading in the book of Deuteronomy.
This book is a long and final speech that Moses gave to the Israelites, before they entered the land God had promised them, and just before Moses died.
Over and over again, Moses reminded the people of their history and what God had done for them. He repeatedly told them not to tolerate the ‘foreign gods’ of this land. Moses said…
“This is what you are to do to them: break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”
It was pretty drastic stuff! But Moses knew that if they did not deal with these ‘false gods’ decisively, they would eventually have a negative effect on them and stop them from obeying God.
The Bible says, that for us today, Jesus has made all the difference. His decisive action of his death and resurrection (which we just celebrated at Easter) dealt with the things that stop us from coming to God.
However we are not robots, and our ‘faith journey’ requires of us to walk with Jesus on a daily basis. Just like the weeds in my garden, or the ‘false gods’ facing Israel, we have to deal with the bad stuff which comes up in our lives.
Sometimes we can do that on our own through private prayer. But there are other situations where we need some help from others, be that friends, church leaders or trained / qualified professionals.
What ‘weeds’ that are growing in your life, and how are you dealing with them?
God bless you:)
Gary Bastin
Hope Community Church leader