Pastor’s Desk August 13th

Scripture Passage:  “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord; looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”  Hebrews 12: 14-15

Dear Friends,

     This time of year has the John Deere mowing grass at least twice a week. Most people do not care, but I do not like dead grass lying everywhere.  I do not have the type of grass I want, but I have what the good Lord gave me.  One place in my yard had a clump of Johnson grass that kept coming up.  I would cut it down into the dirt with the weed eater, but before I would mow again it would be back up and thriving.  Johnson grass is sturdy, heat resistant, and high in protein and nutrients so it makes excellent hay for cattle.  The problem is the root system.  It chokes out everything else and takes over. The only way you can ever grow anything else where it has been is to kill all the roots.  If you look at most fields around Sweetwater right now Johnson grass is what you see.  Each year it gets worse and worse and now it has begun to spill over into people’s yards.  The birds and the wind carry the seed and sow them where they are not wanted.  If you leave one clump of Johnson grass and let it seed, you will have a yard full of it next year.  I had to spray with a powerful herbicide to kill the roots of my clump of Johnson grass.  In killing the roots, I also created a large bare place in my yard.  Here is where the spiritual lesson comes in. 

     We as believers also have a problem.  That problem is called sin.  Sin is a root problem.  When the Lord saved us, he plowed the field of our heart and sowed the new seed of holiness.  That new seed is perfect and produces abundantly.  We know holiness is what we want, what it is supposed to look like, and how we desire to keep the field.  The birds of prey and the winds of change keep dropping seeds of trash.  It starts around the edges and works its way inward.  The problem is that we think as long as sin stays around the edges we won’t have to worry about it.  We leave those clumps of sin and allow them to take root.  For a while we do not even notice them.  By the time we do, it has seeded and more clumps have shown up all over the field of our heart.  As a believer, we cannot allow those roots of sin to remain because we know they do not belong.  We take the weed eater of good works and grind that Johnson grass of sin down into the dirt, but it keeps coming back.  The only way to get rid of it is to kill the root.  Take a cup full of Bible study and a cup full of prayer and mix them together.  Allow the Holy Spirit to apply the mixture to the affected areas.  Be patient as you allow the Spirit to work.  Holiness is a process that takes time. As the root of sin dies out, it will leave a bare spot.  Re-seed that area with the good things of God like church and Christian fellowship.  He will supply the seed.  The field is His.  The seed is His. You are His.  The only thing the enemy has the power to do is to sow tares among the wheat.  They will hinder and try to choke out the good seed, but God will point out what needs to be dealt with.  Just like my yard, it will always be a work in progress.

In Christ,

Pastor Johnny


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