A few years ago, we bought a tree and had it planted. Until the tree could establish a root system, it was staked with a heavy duty T-post.
For those of you wondering “What’s a T-post?” Well, a T-post is a metal post with a triangular plate at its base that is pointed like an arrow so that it goes in to the ground easily but can’t be pulled out easily. In order to get it out, you have to dig it out.
During a drought three years ago, the tree died. Before we knew it, the tree transformed into a big stick in the ground ~ and we removed it.
But the post remained.
I hinted several times to my husband that the post looked silly in the yard without a tree to support. He agreed.
But the post remained.
After several months of mowing around the post, I decided I would pull it out so I walked over to the post and gave it a hearty tug. Nothing.
I tried to wiggle it back and forth. Nothing. It wouldn’t budge. I tried again just to make sure. Nothing.
To the garage I went to get a shovel. Back out to the post ~ the very skinny, green post. How hard could it be to dig it out?
I stuck the shovel in the ground and pulled out a chunk of dirt. Satisfied, I kept digging.
Though the T-post was only about two inches wide and a few millimeters thick, I dug a hole about 18 inches in diameter. I wiggled the post.
Nothing. I dug some more.
But the post remained.
When my hole was about a foot deep, I thought about giving up. It was a lot of work and I was tired and hot and my muscles ached. I could not even see the inverted arrow-like plate that was preventing me from pulling out the post. All I saw was the post.
But the thought of leaving the post in the ground, well, really in the big hole I dug, was not appealing. I would win. I was determined to finish. I put the shovel back in the hole ~ after wiping the dripping sweat off of my brow.
I had watched the tree planters put the post in the ground. It was simple. All they did was hammer the post. And the post was in. There was no shoveling required.
Just a little hammering. Simple.
Getting the post out ~ not so simple.
Eventually, I got the post out. What was left behind was a hole nearly two feet wide and two feet deep. A big ol’ hole ~ just to get a skinny post out of the ground!
Don’t we have things in our lives like that? We easily get ourselves into situations that are a lot harder to get out of.
Sin is like that. It is easy to start down the path of sin. It seems like a little thing at first. A little lie. A little bit of gossip. A little cursing. A little bit of flirting. A little greed. A little bitterness. A little anger. A little haughtiness. A little bit of immorality. A little laziness. A little un-forgiveness.
A little.
The next thing you know, you have gotten yourself into a situation and you are stuck. It was so easy to get into the situation but now it is going to take a lot of digging to get the post of sin out of your life.
We need the Master Gardener, God, to excavate the stubborn, strong posts of sin out of our lives. And He wants to do that for us. He wants to return the yards of our lives into unmarred, beautiful lawns.
Once I had the stubborn post out of the ground, I was triumphant. No longer would it be in my way when I mowed. No longer would it obstruct my path or be an eyesore.
Are there posts in your life that need to be removed? Won’t you let the Master Gardener help you dig up the useless posts? He’s waiting to help you.
John 10:10 ~ I have come that they may have life, and
that they may have it more abundantly.
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John 8:36 ~ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
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Romans 6:17-18 (msg) ~ Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer
yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve
let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a
new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
Amen and Amen!
Do you have a stubborn post that needs to be removed?