Rye Grass and Bermuda

Tuesday 1/31/2012 5:07 AM

Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours mowing the lawn and weeding the flowerbeds.  I also spent time digging out dandelions and the rye grass that springs up in the lawn every winter.  During the cold winter months my Bermuda grass goes dormant, turning a dull brown and growing very little, due to cold temperatures and a lack of sunlight.  The rye grass, on the other hand, springs up everywhere and quickly goes to seed, reproducing itself so prolifically during the rainy season that it takes over the entire lawn if left unchecked.  When spring comes with its warmer temperatures the Bermuda comes back to life and the rye dies, leaving brown patches strewn throughout the lawn.  The rye grass has an extremely shallow root system and cannot stand the dry heat of the summer while the Bermuda has tubers snaking deeper below the surface where they find the needed water and are protected from the heat.  The rye is short-lived, flourishing for a few months and then dying while the Bermuda, while dormant for a season, uses that season to strengthen its tubers and extend its territory.

This morning I read a description of the people of God in Jeremiah 3:10.  “…Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense.”  I looked up the word ‘pretense’ and one definition was ‘mere ostentation’.  When I looked up ‘ostentation’ it said a ‘showy display’.  God wanted sincerity and an all-out commitment from his people but they gave a great show for all to see but their heart wasn’t in it.

Sometimes I am like the people of Judah.  I put on a good show for others to see but my heart is far away.  I want to appear green and growing during the difficult times of life, like the rye grass in my lawn is during the winter, but that kind of pretended enthusiasm only goes so far and soon dies away.  God prefers that I sink my roots deeper into his love and mercy so I don’t founder and die during those dry times.

I want to be rye grass; God prefers Bermuda.