I have grass this year in my yard. This is an accomplishment but its not mine alone. My good friend Josh Hill (who is now a pastor at The Summit church in Raleigh. NC) has plugged and planted grass seed in the fall of each of the last 3 years. The results have been very pleasing, we have gone from a yard of weeds to a yard that has mostly grass in it. The transformation – especially this year – of my yard has been amazing…
but maybe it doesn’t take much to amaze me – Ok I might give you that…
Our neighbor who lives across the street however has nothing in their yard but weeds and trees. The trees have weeds growing up and into them (its a vine like thing) at an alarming rate. In fact the weeds that are growing “up” the trees in their yard have killed several of the trees and are on their way to eliminate all of them. They have tried several things in an attempt to rid themselves of these weeds but none of their strategies have worked so far. They are coming to realize what I have known for a while. The yard will have to have a major over hall before the problem is taken care of but even if they do that, they will have to fight to keep their yard free of weeds if they want the new grass to grow and remain.
So what does this have to do with rain?
I’m glad you asked…
It rained two weeks ago for 7 days in a row. I’m not talking about an occasional thunderstorm every day. I’m talking about rain, sometimes hard sometimes light but continual rain to the point you felt like looking for Noah. The grass in my yard loved those seven days. It was almost like you could watch the grass grow right before your eyes. My neighbor’s yard received the same rain. The ground soaked it up and the weeds and trees drank it. In their yard you could also seemingly watch the weeds come to life taking over areas that they had previously worked on to rid themselves of the weeds. The same rain that blessed my yard allowing it to grow and live was the same rain that blessed their yard also allowing it to grow and prosper.
Hebrews 6:7-8 “For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”
This comes at the end of a highly debated passage of scripture, but is often ignored when explanations are given for the previous verses. I am not attempting to write this blog to solve the issues people have with those verses. That is not my goal and I’m not really interested in getting involved in that discussion. But, I will say this, these verses play a major role in what the previous verses actually mean. There are a few things that are clear…
Rain falls on ground that will produce good things and ground that will produce bad things.
Both types of ground drink/soak up/taste the rain for their own benefit. The ground then produces what is planted deep within it. Some ground produces very beneficial things while other types of ground only produces weeds,thorns, and thistles. It is only ground that is cultivated to produce a crop that actually winds up producing that crop. Land that remains uncultivated will not produce a crop of any value – only weeds.
Unless my neighbor cuts down all the tress in their yard and kills the rest of the weeds all the way to the roots and then plants some grass, it will be impossible for their yard to have anything in it other than weeds. If they turn away from that path – just choose to not pay the price to solve the problem – just let things be as they are – they will live in the arena of impossibility. Yes doing nothing makes it impossible for them to ever have a yard that produces anything other than weeds.
Every time they visit my yard they taste and see what a “good looking” yard can be. (Ok my yard isn’t a “Better Homes and Garden Yard” but that’s not the point) But if they aren’t willing to change in order to get the weeds out of their yard they will continue to live in the arena of hopelessness. All the while God continues to bless them with the thing they can’t produce or make for themselves – RAIN.
So, I feel like this post is already too long so I’ll end with this. Hebrews 5:11- 6:12 is about cultivation and believing in Jesus. You need to make sure you have allowed Him to change you and that you are working everyday to cultivate and grow in the faith you have in Him.
He will provide the Rain and help you remove the weeds.
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