The heat and humidity can take its toll on this old overweight man in a hurry. I try to do my outdoor weeding after the sun goes down but sometimes I don’t. The other day I saw a weed and pulled it from the flower bed. Then I saw another. Before I realized it, I was on a mission to pull all those weeds. The sun was so bright and hot. I was sweating like crazy. My eyes were burning from the salt in my sweat. Only moments ago, I was in my air-conditioned truck.
This reminded me of the days working our garden when I was younger. So many weeds everywhere in the garden. So much Bermuda grass coming up all over the place. If I did not stay after it and focused on fighting it, the weeds and grass would overtake the vegetables that my wife loves and I hate. LoL
This early story in the bible comes to mind sometimes when I sweat a lot. When Adam ate the apple in the garden of Eden, after being told explicitly by the Lord to not eat of the tree in the middle of the garden, he did anyway. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3:17-19 God tells Adam this, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.9 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
I now am like Adam. I sin. I do things I should not do and there is always a consequence. I do my best to not sin, but I know when I do it because the Holy Spirit convicts my soul instantly. I may be a curse word or the un-Christlike way I handled a situation. Regardless of the sin it is still a sin.
Like those weeds. If I just overlook the sin, it will take root and grow into more sin or more weeds in my heart. It will choke my heart and soul along with my witness if I refuse to deal with it. I must confess, repent and do my absolute best to not do that again, and learn from my mistakes and sins. I am a man and I am a sinner saved by God’s loving grace.
What I need to do is when that sweat is dripping from my face I need to remember the blood dripping from the face of Jesus and let it remind me as I pull those weeds, to confess my sins and ask Jesus to pull those sins from my heart through His loving grace and forgiveness.
Jim
