Devotion

The province where I live is caught in the grip of one of its more severe semi-annual droughts; rivers are at their lowest levels in almost one hundred years. Farmers are praying for rain, in time to save autumn crops. Fire bans are rigidly policed, and no rain is expected for weeks. About the only thing that many were anticipating to fall out of the sky were pieces of the redundant Russian space station, Mir!

When I was out in the countryside recently with a friend, we spotted a lonely farmhouse, surrounded by a verdant green lawn. It looked completely incongruous; all around the house were dusty fields, stubble, rank weeds, sheep and cattle struggling for sustenance. We stood and stared at the lawn for few moments, thinking silent thoughts about the sanity of the farmer.

As I inspected the lawn I realized that something was "not quite right," it was too perfect, no weeds, evenly mown with a clean-cut border between the grass and the brown fields. Then it dawned on me... it was artificial!

In an effort to bring a little relief to the relentless dry, the farmer had invested considerable effort in turning a little patch of his parched property into something it was not. The appeal to the eye was gratifying, but other than for its aesthetic attraction the plastic lawn was useless. It was like the decorations used on store display wedding cakes, all beauty but no substance! Fake snow on a plastic Christmas tree, or the scrumptious, specially treated and preserved but inedible bread used for display in a bakery. The fake lawn only superficially obscured the effects of the prolonged drought, and in reality emphasized the actual extreme conditions.

How like the empty lives of so many people! I have met many lost souls who appear to be someone of substance only to discover that, upon closer inspection, they are "plastic grass." They are "wells without water" (2 Peter 2:17) and full of false promise. Sadly I have met more than enough of this type of person in Christian circles.

Is your life a reflection of the hope that you have in Jesus Christ? What an incredible honor to be called a son or daughter of the most High God. It's an honor that I know that I sometimes take for granted! Sometimes I forget, often for considerable periods of time, to thank our Lord for all He has
done for me. I forget that my name is written in the "Lamb's Book of Life" and that there are heavenly beings watching over me, and intervening in dangerous circumstances. I know of at least two occasions when, were it not for the timely intervention of an Angelic being I would have been in a serious, possibly fatal car accident.

I hope and pray that I never find myself as ungrateful as these lepers. "...And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed [healed from leprosy]? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Luke 17:16-18

As a community rescued from sin's penalty, we of all people should be the most grateful, for we know what our likely end was; save for the timely calling of Holy Spirit. We have been rescued from, in the words of John Bunyan "The slough of despair" and given the keys to the highest office in the universe. What joy, what adventures await us in eternity?

Jesus met some "plastic grass" people once, and he wasted no time in informing them of their condition! "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like unto white sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." Matthew 23:27

Don't fall into the trap of obscuring faults with "plastic grass," rather be prepared and willing to endure the Master's touch. Allow Jesus to look into the secret places and, if necessary, bring life to those areas of your life that are drought stricken.

About the Author

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