As Spring begins to welcome us with longer days and warmer afternoons, the weeds in my front yard also sense the coming of the season and don’t want to miss the excitement in the air as they poke their heads up threatening to take over my flower bed.
I commonly refer to weed pulling as my “garden therapy,” yet on this day…Good Friday….the day my Jesus hung on the cross….I pull weeds and consider a stark reality as I eagerly anticipate celebrating “Resurrection Day” on Sunday. A gardener knows it is vital to prepare the soil by removing the weeds that will choke and destroy the plants if we want them to thrive. Do we as Christians prepare our hearts to worship a resurrected Savior or do we get so caught up with baskets and bunnies, buying new outfits for the kids and coloring eggs that we really do not stop and pause and reflect on what Jesus REALLY did for us on the cross? Please don’t misunderstand my heart because no gal enjoys decorating cookies and hiding eggs with my children, and I certainly make sure they know the real reason we celebrate this season. However, do we really prepare to hear from Christ and to worship Him by examining the weeds in our own hearts? I do not want any unrighteousness to keep me from hearing from God as I worship Him!
Isaiah 59:2 (NKJV)
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.
You see I pull small weeds in my flower bed that don’t seem to have deep roots yet, but then I also pull huge weeds with significant roots that require me to get thick gloves to complete the task. All the while, I notice that some of the weeds get uglier and thornier as they grow larger and in spite of my efforts to protect myself from harm, I still end up with bloody scratches caused by some of these offenders and exhausted by days end.
Isn’t this true in our own life too? Sin may seem small at first as a little white lie is justified, innocent flirting seems to go unnoticed or office gossip is succumbed to, but then just as the Enemy always does if we are not on guard, he convinces us that the small weed is not a big deal…it will not take over our life…..it will not leave us bloody and scarred. Oh what a lie that is dear Friend as sin’s roots grow deep!
John 10:10 (NKJV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The Enemy does not have your best interest in mind, but Jesus DOES and he proved that when He hung on that cross bloody and bruised for OUR sins, so that we might have eternal life in Him!
You see as we prepare to worship our Risen Savior and celebrate the victory of the cross and what it represents, let’s prepare our hearts too so that we do not miss hearing from Him. We can begin by repenting of any unconfessed sin so that our lives and hearts will be “refreshed” with His presence and that we may realize that the same power that gave Christ victory over the grave is also ours as His children! WOW!
Acts 3:19 (NKJV)
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord
Dear Jesus, thank you for taking my place on the cross and suffering for my sins so that I may spend eternity with you in Heaven! I am so unworthy of this ultimate act of love and unselfishness yet your grace and sacrifice sets me free! Thank you Father. I celebrate You and do my best to examine my heart in preparation to worship You!”