Mowing the Hill

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:11-14 ESV).

From our house to the top of “the hill” is a steep fifteen feet climb. While this may seem negligible to some, however, as an old guy, push mowing this section is not fun! Last week I decided it was time to give it a try. After all, I’ve got two new stents making my heart work again; and, I’ve lost over thirty pounds, doing exactly as the doctors have instructed. Surely I can push the mower up the hill again. I mean, downhill is not a problem. So really I’m only mowing half of it with any effort at all. Right? Well, I fired up the old push mower and began the work. I got downhill and back once until both Brandy, my daughter-in-law, and Mary came out of the houses scolding me for trying to do this task. They reminded me it was the middle of the day, with a heat index of nearly 100 degrees, and I am, after all, nearly 70 years old. After some congenial discussion the decision was made to get my grandson, Logan to come out and mow the patch. He finished it and said, “Grandpa, that’s way too hard for you.” I guess I’ll need to work on that! That little experience brought me to our reading today. I am an imperfect man, physically and spiritually. These verses are full of encouragement for imperfect people like us. It means that we can have assurance that we stand perfected and completed in the eyes of our heavenly Father not because we are perfect now, but are “being sanctified” by faith in God’s promises. We are moving away from our lingering imperfection toward more and more holiness. We really are getting stronger and better by His work of grace in us. This is the kind of faith that in the midst of imperfection and weakness can look to Christ and say, “You have already perfected me in your sight.” This faith says, “Christ, today I have sinned. But I hate my sin. For you have written the law on my heart, and I long to do it. And you are working in me what is pleasing in your sight (Hebrews 13:21). This is not the boast of the strong. It is the cry of the weak in need of a Savior. Whatever hill you are trying to climb on your own, I invite you, I urge you, to be weak enough to trust Christ in this way. Your weakness will fade away in His strength.