Tag: Sin

I was thinking …..

It’s exciting to see another Fall season coming. So many things to look forward to. It’s harvest time, canning, freezing and splitting perennials to thin out the plants. I confess, I had allowed my plants to spread too big and now had one huge job on hand to split and replant them. No worries, it gives me more gorgeous plants to replant elsewhere and share with other perennial lovers.

But the thing I love about Fall the most, is cozying up inside with a hot cup of coffee or chicory, and if it’s cool/cold enough, cuddle up under a blanket with pups laying on or beside me.

This year I decided to try Pumpkin Spice coffee. My son-in-law brought me a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks and while I liked the flavour, it was too sweet, and the price!! So I decided to buy some of that flavouring from the grocery store. I drink the Silk brand of milk so naturally I tried the smaller size of their Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer.

I was not disappointed. It was really delicious. I added it in every cup of coffee/chicory I drank. It was my Fall treat!

To my surprise though, by the last cup, I noticed an after taste that wasn’t so delicious. It had lost it’s appeal and that’s when I realized, how much like falling into sin it was. Not the creamer, but sin in general.

It starts with thoughts of how everyone else is doing it and how good it would be if you did also. Then it goes on to anticipation and follow through. And, O boy, it’s as good as you thought it would be.

But, in regards to sin, to a child of God, you feel a bit of unease and gradually, distaste and finally you realize the disappointment and that you have lost all enjoyment of it.

Giving it up, getting back to where you were before giving in to any sin, repenting and returning to being obedient to God, peace once again fills you with deep contentment.

What I have found over the years, when you live an obedient life as a child of God, as much as possible, eventually you discover that the peace and joy is more valuable than the sin you once considered so enjoyable. Even when temptation arises, you can more easily turn your back on it and stay in the peace and contentment of God, desire for those prior things has lost it’s appeal, and all I can say in those situations is Thank God and Hallelujah!

Weeds a.k.a Sin

                                                                             Wednesday, July 3, 2019

I went out early this morning to walk around in the cool air, checking on how my gardens are doing. It’s been so hot and I wanted to check who might need a bit of watering before the blazing sun hits them again today.

When I took out the grass to plant my English country garden, I chose to dig it out rather than cover it over with landscape fabric. The people who lived here before us chose to use the fabric and we are in one dreadful mess, so I didn’t want to go that route.

So, I dug down deep, pulled out all the grass roots, replaced with good topsoil and triple mix and after I planted the perennials I bought, I mulched deep, at least 4 inches in most places and intend to add more layers of mulch each year.

I worked hard throughout May and June and I take great delight in seeing those tiny plants I put in, not only growing strong but beginning to bloom.

I have to say, it’s starting to look glorious! It’s very satisfying to see that the vision I had in my head during the winter months, is becoming the reality I hoped it would.

But, (and don’t you sometimes just hate the ‘but’??) this morning went I went out to water and check and I was a bit perturbed to see that despite all my efforts, little bits of grass and that blasted weed Speedwell are randomly popping up in my well built gardens!!

Then I realized, those weeds are like sin. I know you’ve likely heard this many times, but it reminded me this morning that sin can creep into a what we think is a well-tended area of our lives. If we are not vigilant to dig them out when they are small and controllable, their roots twist and twine and grow into a strong vigorous system which is much more difficult to get out. Like most weeds, sin grows under the surface and when it finally makes its presence known, popping up looking all tiny and manageable, it’s terribly hard to root out.

It takes attentiveness and hard work to make a garden beautiful. If I don’t tend those little weeds daily, it will soon become a tangled mess, choking out the beauty of my garden.

So it is with sin, we have to be watchful to catch the little ones and pluck them out before they grow strong so the beauty of Christ can be seen in the garden of our lives.