A Crooked Fence

Our inner Pharisee looks out over the the field of sins and builds a fence around those that do not seem to apply to us. We look out upon our neighbor's fields and see crops of murder, adultery, or drug abuse and think to ourselves, "I would never abuse drugs" or "well, at least I've never killed anyone." Our eyes sweep back to our own fields with pride. "Look at my crops. How tall and beautiful they are! Not a sign of theft. Not a hint of child abuse."

Yet we fail to notice our crooked fence. When we took inventory of our own sins and examined our neighbors, the fence that was required to make our fields look good was tortuous. Twisted and jagged, it kept the sins of others at bay while pleasantly ignoring the perennial lust, anger, and pride that crops up moment by moment in our lives.

The Pharisee does not really seem to believe what Paul said in Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." For them, or shall I say for us, we are quick to suggest to the person in the next field "you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but my sins are not that bad."

Friends, Jesus came to uproot them all.  Your neighbor's murder, the adultery of the guy down the street, and your belief that your sins are not that bad and do not require forgiveness. Jesus' point in the Sermon on the Mount was to show us how deeply rooted our sins are. None of us are exempt. On our own merits, we are all fields of unrighteous weeds.

By His grace, he can uproot your sin and by His Spirit--and by His Spirit alone--He will walk your fields with you and enable you to bear fruit in keeping with your repentance.