Weeds 'n Things

This is my favorite time of year! I love pretty much everything about it--cool mornings and warm afternoons, trees and flowers in bloom, Daylight Savings Time, fresh fruits and vegetables, outdoor grilling, shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops, Easter, spring break, The Final Four (Go Heels!), The Masters, and the list just keeps on going...

At this time of year, I also find myself getting excited about "the potential" for my yard. Dead branches, brown grass, and piles of leaves are enough to have me jazzed about transforming my lawn into something that resembles the likes of Augusta National.

So this past week as I was putting out fertilizer, trimming shrubs, and trying to make scizzor-straight lines with my lawn mower, I was quickly reminded that the five months of winter are just long enough for fantasy to overtake reality. Instead of the lawn of distinction that I dream of, I find myself facing endless weeds, crabgrass, and dandelions. It doesn't take long for me to remember that they don't go away. Regardless of how much weed killer is applied and how many taproots are pulled, the job is endless.

You would think as a pastor that the echos of Genesis would ring loudly enough to keep my hopes and dreams at bay:

And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
and in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)


So with many months of weeds and sweat ahead, my prayer is that I will never forget the magnitude of sin, and that my real hope will be for a new "weed-free" heaven and earth.