Lawn Care Sanctification

I love spring but you know what that means. Lawn care. Aerate, power rake, dethatch, mow, edge, overseed, fertilize, water, spray—all that stuff. These tasks make me almost wish it were winter again! Almost. As I’ve been working in my yard, God has been teaching me about sanctification. There’s overlap between the two.

Weeds are the worst, aren’t they? Even though my dog enjoys eating the dandelion flowers, I hate them. My yard has other types of weeds, too. They’re annoying. They take up space and suck up soil’s nutrients. If left unaddressed, my weed problem will get worse. Weeds are kind of like sin. Sin tries to take over, like weeds. If left unaddressed, sin will harm my life, just like weeds will harm my grass. Weeds require effort to be tackled, as does sin. Just as we kill the weeds in our yards so also we should kill the sin in our lives (Col 3:5).

Yards require regular maintenance. If a week goes by and I haven’t worked on mine, it will look unkempt. That’s how our Christian life is, too. They require regular maintenance—daily, even. If we go too long without attending to our Christian walk, our souls will have weeds popping up everywhere. Regular prayer, repentance, Scripture reading, and fellowship with other Christians are a must.

Yard word is hard work. There’s a reason why Solomon identified an untidy yard as a sign of someone who is lazy (Prov 24:30–31). Sanctification, too, is hard work. Real hard. It requires work (Phil 2:12). However, just like yard work, the payoff of sanctification is worth it. I feel great after I cut the grass. It’s a challenge to complete the task, but it’s always worth the effort. Sanctification is far more worth it. When you see Jesus with your eyes, you will say, “It was hard, Jesus, but it was worth it.”

As you are out in your yard this spring, remember that God reveals His truth even in the blades of grass you cut with your mower. “The heavens” and the grass “declare the glory of God” (Ps 19:1).

Pastor Chance