Cut the Grass. Expose the Enemy.

In the very beginning of Scripture, we see the enemy, satan, the devil, in the image of a snake. This snake is the tempter who wrapped himself around Adam & Eve and the fall of mankind took place (Genesis 3:1). We need to understand that the enemy is a sneaky snake and wants nothing more than to control you and take you off of the path that God has you on or about to go on. He doesn’t want you to live life more abundantly (John 10:10). He doesn’t want you to have joy, peace, or victory in life. He simply wants to kill you…spiritually (possibly even physically).

But not all attacks from this venomous snake is necessarily brought on by the enemy. I dare to say that sometimes we leave the door open for the enemy to hide in our lives. 

Let me explain. One day, after I had mowed our yard when we were pastoring in Clay City, IN. I went  over to the church to mow its yard too. The grass had not been cut in about a week in a half or so because we have had quite a bit of rain. The grass was pretty long and the mowing was definitely a necessity. As I was cutting I noticed something sliding through the grass along the side of the church. Upon further investigation I found out what it was. Yep, you guessed it, it was a snake.

He or she (I didn’t know how to check and I would rather not even begin that process) was brown and well hidden in the tall blades of grass. It wasn’t until I came along and purposely cut the grass down that revealed it. I struggled to pick it up as I stepped on the back half of it (not squishing it) and then I put my foot right on its neck so I could grab its head without getting bit. After about ten minutes or so (I REALLY didn’t want to get bit), I was able to grab its neck and safely remove it out of the yard.

As I was removing the snake, God began to speak to me about the situation. Here is wha the Lord told me that day. The tall grass along with its weeds represents the sin in our lives. Inside of the sin that we harbor is lurking a snake...the enemy. He is just waiting for the right moment to strike at you and take you down. It isn’t until we “CUT” the sin out of our lives that we can expose the snake for what he really is…a spiritual killer. The longer we harbor sin in our lives the bigger it gets and the easier it is for the enemy to hide. 

So what do we do? Simple, we need to cut the grass (sin) out of our lives.

Before we cut the grass we need to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that it needs cutting to begin with. In other words, acknowledge you have sin. We all do. To say we don't the bible says we there is no truth in us. 

Had I not acknowledged the grass needed cut at the church, it would have never been cut and more snakes could move in. While sometimes we don't purposely harbor sin in our lives, it doesn't mean we don't have sin. Sometimes sin, just like the snake, hides itself very easily and it needs to be illuminated. This is where the the Word of God. The Word is a lamp that shines into our lives and reveals the dark places.

Once it is revealed, the second thing we need to do is cut it out. The Word is not only a light, but also a sword (Ephesians 6:17) that is sharper than any double edged blade (Hebrews 4:12) that pierces to the very soul. When God reveals to us the things that are not pleasing to Him, we need to repent and then get rid of it. Jesus even tells us to go to the extremes if we have to.

If we refuse to cut the grass, that snake will eventually come out and coil himself around you and bite. My prayer is that each of you stay in the Word of God to keep the grass (sin) in our lives at bay. Though we will never get rid of all of it, we can and must  keep it trimmed.

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