What have I done?

I am enjoying the sunshine over these past few days. It has also finally started warming up. That means that we can get out of the house and start to do the yard work. But that also means that it is time to begin that one task that will go on throughout the spring, summer and into the fall. What is that task? Mowing the grass. Yes, once you start to mow, there is no stopping. Each spring I try to wait as long as possible to wait to mow the first time. I finally gave in this last Monday and mowed the year. After I was done, it looked so nice. I was happy to have mowed it. I liked the looks of a freshly mowed yard. Then I thought, "Self, what have you done?"

You ever ask yourself that? What have I done? That is often what happens when we have given in to some sort of temptation. You say to yourself, "I am not going to do that." You fight against it. You ask the Lord to help you. And you do so well for a while (or maybe not for too long), and then you let down your guard and you give in to temptation. After you have done it, you ask yourself, "What have I done?"

You have shown that you are in need of your Savior. It is a real temptation to think that you are strong spiritually. You can walk the life of faith on your own. But you can't. You need the Lord to strengthen you. You need the Holy Spirit in your life. You need to focus on your Baptismal life. You need to be in God's Word. And (when we are able to get together or if you want to come in privately) you need to receive the Lord's Supper. Each one of us needs the Means of Grace. We need the help of the Lord in our lives to overcome those temptations.

And then, when we have given in and fallen into sin, we need to turn from ourselves and our strength, and ask the Lord for forgiveness. We ask Him to forgive us for the sake of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, not for our sake or what we have done. It is all about that which the Lord has done for each of us.

Then, as we are forgiven, we also ask Him to help us to avoid that temptation the next time. We don't think, "I am strong enough." No, we say, "I need the Holy Spirit to strengthen me." And He does! Through the Word and Sacraments.

Now, get out there and mow that grass! It is time. And you will like how it looks when you are done.