My Lawn . . . Your Lawn

Luke 18

9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: `God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 `I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'
13 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'
14 "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

I don't know about anyone else, but I hate mowing the lawn. There are some people that think mowing is therapeutic. To me its a painful chore that has to be done. Unfortunately, here in Houston our lawn has to be mowed at least once a week from about the end of March-first of April until well into October and sometimes November.

So you can see my agony.

And if that's not bad enough just the fact I have to mow the lawn, I'm married to a woman that has to have her lawn cut short. They say women have biological clocks. Well my wife's clock has a lawn alarm on it and when our lawn get's just a quarter of an inch above her recommended height it starts clanging like a chicken running for its life.

But all kidding aside, I love my wife. And my wife loves her lawn manicured.

The other day I was walking our son, Micah, through the neighborhood and I found myself saying, "man if Steph thinks our lawn is bad she ought to have a look at this person's lawn."

Or how about that person's lawn -- geez. That person must not even own a lawn mower.

You get the picture.

But how often do we find ourselves as Christians measuring ourselves up to each other. "Well I'm doing as well as Bro. Bob over there." "Boy Sister Jane sure is having a tough time. I'm glad I'm not doing that."

Why is it that we always want to make sure we are one upping the Joneses. Oh yeah -- SIN! We are not called to compare ourselves to each other. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:10 there is none righteous not even one!

But instead we are to compare ourselves toward God. He calls us in I Peter 1:16 to be holy just as He is holy.

The only comparing we should do as Christians is comparing ourselves to Jesus. And while we will never attain perfection here on earth, that is to be our goal -- to be more like Christ!

And not only do we as Christians compare ourselves to each other, but non-Christians will also compare themselves to Christians in order to justify not accepting Jesus Christ. "Well I'm no different than Insert Name Here, and they claim to be a Christian, so why should I become a Christian."

We as believers have to be aware that people are watching us. They are watching how we act, how we talk and how we treat others.

If we find ourselves comparing our lives with those around us, may we stop and repent. And may we always remember that someone is watching us. What kind of light are we being? Or is the Light of the Truth shining through us at all?

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995
by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."