Having had the experience of starting two lawns from scratch
I know it is better to grow grass than it is to pull weeds. There is no special
formula for having a good lawn, simply grow grass!
Good grass keeps out weeds. The better the grass the fewer
the weeds. Many people spend a great deal of time pulling or spraying weeds in
their lawn, when it would be more beneficial to spend their time growing good
grass. When the grass is fed and cut properly weeds will have a difficult time
gaining entrance.
This is of course true in the spiritual life of the believer
as well. A believer who spends time growing will have fewer unwanted spiritual
weeds to remove. Christians who feed on this world’s entertainment are simply
sowing weeds in their spiritual lawn which will cause them to spend more time in
spiritual weeding, which if they fail to do will result in a poor spiritual
condition and testimony.
Many today sense no danger in this world’s theaters and
ungodly TV shows and the things presented in them. Little do many realize that
the seeds that generate those pesty weeds are often extremely small, and once
they get rooted they can be very difficult to remove. The apostle Paul
encouraged the saints in Philippi to go in for those things which are
"excellent." (Phil. 1:10) It is not simply the question of "What’s
wrong with this?", but rather "Is it the best?".
A good lawn does require some expenditure for proper food.
However the cost, both in time and in money, to remove unwanted weeds will no
doubt be greater, unless, of course, one simply does not care how his lawn
looks.
For a Christian to grow also requires some expenditure for
proper feeding. Time in the Scriptures and with the Lord’s people, and the
purchase and reading of sound teaching material are a few examples. Time and
money spent in these areas will spare us the awful cost associated with a weed
infested life.
Are we putting our effort into growing spiritually, or do we
spent much of our time constantly removing unwanted weeds in our spiritual
lives? Perhaps we have reached the point where we are satisfied with a weed
infested life. If this be the case it may require the Lord to take radical
action to rectify the situation. This will be the mostly costly solution, but
one which does not have to take place if we will begin to take the time to grow
spiritually.