Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
Hebrews 6:7-8 (NIV)
When Wendy and I built our house ten years ago, it became a long-term lesson for me in lawn care. In the division of labor here at Vander Well Manor, you’ll find my name at the top of the org chart when it comes to the outdoor lawn and landscaping. Looking back, there were so many things we would have done differently from the very beginning.
It took several years for us to get our lawn to a point where it looked decent, and it required regular treatments and on-going maintenance. Finally, it was beginning to look great and I was feeling better about it than ever. So, I decided to save a few pennies and take a year off of the treatments to see if it was healthy enough to simply perpetuate.
Weeds. Bare spots. Brown patches. It was awful. Ugh!
Today’s chapter contains a passage that has stirred controversy within the church for centuries:
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance.
Hebrews 6:4-6a (NIV)
The question, of course, is whether salvation can be lost? Can a person be saved and then lose that salvation? My friends of pentecostal persuasion tend to say “yes.” My reformed, Calvinist friends say “absolutely not.”
In the quiet this morning, my heart finds no joy in wading into that debate. Instead, my meditations pulled back to look at the context of what the author of Hebrews is communicating to the weary, persecuted first century believers. He follows this passage about fallen away believers with his metaphor of land drinking in the rain.
There are two contextual references the author is tapping into. For his Jewish audience, his metaphor resonates with the Law of Moses in Deuteronomy 11 in which God promises that the land will be blessed in obedience but cursed if the people lose faith and are disobedient. He is also referencing Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when He states that the rain is going to fall on the land, both good and bad. The question is what the land is going to produce.
The rain will fall. The sun will shine. When I was dutiful in tending my lawn, feeding it and mindfully tending it, the land produced a thick carpet of healthy grass. When I took a year off it began to produce weeds, bare spots, and brown spots in unhealthy ways.
That’s the simple spiritual lesson the author of Hebrews is trying to communicate to his readers. He is not harshly warning them of a bean counter God who holds salvation in the balance ready to yank it away based on who knows what infraction. The author is simply adding to the message he began in the previous chapter about his readers not spiritually growing into maturity. The seeds were planted, the lawn sprouted, and it even looked healthy for a while. Life will continue to happen. The rain will fall. The sun will shine. Without regular maintenance the land will not be healthy and fruitful, but rather filled with weeds, thorns, and thistles.
So, I am reminded in the quiet this morning that my spiritual life, just like my lawn, needs regular attention and maintenance if it’s going to be healthy, mature, and fruitful. The rain of grace keeps falling; what I tend determines what grows.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
