After four years of drought, I decided to take out the grass that was my front lawn and put in a drought tolerant front yard. What this means is I have extended my front patio then split the remaining area with drought tolerant plants and artificial turf.
I have to tell you, that artificial turf looks great! Green! Perfect! And I don’t have to do anything to maintain it!
But—I have learned something else. That such perfection has come at a cost—and I’m not talking about the monetary cost for instillation. I am talking about the life cost. There is no life on that front lawn.
Now my backyard is more work intensive. It needs to be fertilized and the weeds and insects need to be dealt with. But there is life in and on that back lawn. Every morning the birds are looking for the worms, and the cats (not my cats) are looking for the birds! But there is life.
My two “lawns” have reminded me of the Christian walk. We can have an artificial one—one that looks great from a distance—perfect, in fact. No maintenance needed because Satan doesn’t have to worry about the artificial Christians—they’re lifeless, so no one will be drawn to them.
However, a vibrant Christian, always needs to be vigilant and proactive. Satan will constantly be out to weaken and destroy and to toss temptations into those lives in an effort to get sin to grow. Therefore, we need to make sure we are well watered, fertilized, and tended. We need to stay in God’s Word, stay in communication with God through prayer, and stay in fellowship with other believers.
A vibrant Christian life may not look as perfect as an artificial one, but it will certainly draw the attention and questions of others. Don’t just look alive—Be alive.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” Matthew 23:27.
I have to tell you, that artificial turf looks great! Green! Perfect! And I don’t have to do anything to maintain it!
But—I have learned something else. That such perfection has come at a cost—and I’m not talking about the monetary cost for instillation. I am talking about the life cost. There is no life on that front lawn.
Now my backyard is more work intensive. It needs to be fertilized and the weeds and insects need to be dealt with. But there is life in and on that back lawn. Every morning the birds are looking for the worms, and the cats (not my cats) are looking for the birds! But there is life.
My two “lawns” have reminded me of the Christian walk. We can have an artificial one—one that looks great from a distance—perfect, in fact. No maintenance needed because Satan doesn’t have to worry about the artificial Christians—they’re lifeless, so no one will be drawn to them.
However, a vibrant Christian, always needs to be vigilant and proactive. Satan will constantly be out to weaken and destroy and to toss temptations into those lives in an effort to get sin to grow. Therefore, we need to make sure we are well watered, fertilized, and tended. We need to stay in God’s Word, stay in communication with God through prayer, and stay in fellowship with other believers.
A vibrant Christian life may not look as perfect as an artificial one, but it will certainly draw the attention and questions of others. Don’t just look alive—Be alive.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” Matthew 23:27.
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