Our Yard Perishes

Aaaw.....the feel of freshly cut lush green grass.  My toes sink into the soft velvety green carpet.  I frolic and my feet sing in delight over the comfortable landing.  Soft brush-like blades grip and tickle as I run across the emerald blanket covering our yard........RRRRRT.  (Insert record stopping noise here.)

Ummm....no, that is only a dream.  If I were to actually "frolic" in our yard (which I really don't do), it would be more like this.....

AaawOUCH....the feel of crunchy dry needle-like blades of grass.  My toes search for comfort among the weeds and dry patches.  My feet long for a place to find a comfortable landing.  Alas, they continue to search.

How we long for nice green lush grass.  We have seeded and seeded, aerated, sprayed, hired professionals, but we just don't know what we are doing and our thumbs are not even a light shade of green.

Our yard perishes for lack of knowledge. 

That is how many Christians are living their lives....their lives are perishing because of a lack of knowledge.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Hosea 4:6

The Word of God is our book of knowledge.  In it are the promises of God, how to stand against the enemy, what constitutes sin, what brings life, it explains how God wants us to live and not live.  It is living and breathing, it is God's Words.  When we speak the Word, we are speaking what God says. WOW!

However, many Christians don't know what God's Word says.  As a result, their "yard" is being destroyed.  What does God's Word say about healing, about finances, about prosperity, about relationships, about marriage, about parenting, about sin, about salvation, etc....?

Just like we don't know how to have a lush green weed-free yard because we lack horticulture knowledge, one's life may be dry and full of weeds because they lack spiritual knowledge.  The only way to educate ourselves is through the Word of God.  Jesus is our Living Water.  Jesus will always bring life to a dry and weedy soul. 

Get skillful and godly Wisdom, get understanding; so do not forget and do not turn back from the words of my mouth.  Forsake not Wisdom, and she will keep and defend, and protect you; love her, and she will guard you.  Proverbs 4:5-6

There is another reason for the weeds in our yard.  Since we lacked knowledge, we didn't know we were suppose to treat for crabgrass in the Spring.  So, our yard was looking pretty nice and I was happy.  Yay, a nice yard, then...... boom, crabgrass hit it in July and there was nothing we could do, it was too late.  Now we know.  Wisdom and knowledge would have protected our yard. 

We didn't treat our yard to protect our grass from those weeds and.....

If we don't protect our hearts, weeds will begin to grow.

Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance, for out of it flow the springs of life.  Proverbs 4:23

Sin is like a weed, it infests, it grows, it will take over if it is not dealt with and destroyed.  We must protect our hearts from the infestation of sin.  Again, God's Word will protect our hearts and then we must be mindful to guard our hearts from that which will destroy our lives. 

Just like we must do certain things to prevent weeds in our yards, we must guard our hearts to keep the weeds out of our lives.  The Word of God is our protection, is our source of knowledge, is our weed prevention.

What are you letting into your heart and life that may be like a weed?  Is your "yard" lush and green or dry and weedy?  The time to treat it is now.  Don't let your yard perish due to a lack of knowledge.  Plant the good seeds of God's Word, keep the weeds out by guarding your heart and let Jesus, the Living Water, make your yard green and beautiful.