Mowing the Lawn: A Way of Looking to Jesus

Yard Work: aggravating or relaxing? My biggest contribution to yard work on our property is cutting the grass. I only have a month or so left for the year. There is something satisfying about looking over a freshly cut yard. Whats more, no body likes crooked lines in a cut lawn. The easiest way to keep them straight is looking to a point at the other end of the yard and walking/driving to it.

If you look at the lawn mower or the line from the last pass or the kids in the next yard or the good job your neighbor did on his lawn you will swerve. There are basic rules to cutting a lawn so as to look nice. Yet the idea of basic principles being a guide is seen throughout life.

I was reminded of this earlier in the summer as I cut the grass. When we follow Jesus we must keep our attention on him. In each moment, not to sound cliché, both eyes must be on Jesus.

Don’t get caught up in the moment and neglect to look ahead.

It is true for both mowing a lawn or driving a car. If you get caught up for too long merely looking at the machinery you will be in trouble. Obviously one is far more dangerous than the other. Looking at the mower while cutting is not quite as severe as looking at the hood of the car while driving.

In life such a scenario might look a lot like our brother Peter (Matt. 14:22-33). As that bold disciple was rocking to a fro with the boat in the stormy sea, he saw his Lord walking on the water. In faith, he looked to Jesus and asked for the opportunity to join Jesus there on the sea. Once out of the boat..not swimming but walking…he changed his posture. As he started his walk he was looking ahead to his Lord who was just ahead of him. Then he “he saw the wind, he was afraid and, began to sink…”

What happened? Eyes off of the One who had called Peter to follow. His gaze went to that which was around him. He got caught up in the moment as he was moving forward and it proved fatal.

Do you get caught up in the moment and forget the big picture…the bigness of our God…his power and plan. Are you like me, quick to say, “God is sovereign.” However, when the car engine light comes on, kids goof off when we are in a hurry, the car ahead of me doesn’t see the green light…I don’t act like God is sovereign. In those times I see the wind and raging sea of the moment and give in to despair, anger, or anxiety. I forget that He is enthroned. That He loves me. And that He has only good for me.

Are you reminding and being reminded by others that life is bigger than the moment. We must not look only to what is seen, but to what is unseen. It is unseen to our eyes but in faith we see that God is not only bigger than our momentary problems, but has intended them for such great good. Let us rejoice in the moment.

Don’t look to past success for encouragement nor failure for motivation.

When I am pushing that lawn mower I catch myself examining my work. Sometimes it is to see how those lines are looking or if the grass is short enough. In short, am I doing a good job on the lawn or bad??? The Christian life can be like that sometimes. After all, we are commanded in 2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election…” But even this command is not calling us to become defined by our own work, but by the work of Jesus.

As with mowing the lawn, if I get too caught up in looking at other parts of the lawn as I cut to see how I’ve done I will botch what I am currently doing. So, in our lives as Christ followers we must not take our eye off of the Savior in order to give undo time and energy to look our our perceived success or failure. Paul states it like this,

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize…”

Philippians 3:12-14

As we follow Jesus, we cannot look back to past success in our walk with Christ to encourage us in the moment. Neither should we look back on failure as a motivator to do better in the now. Instead, our looking ahead to Jesus, whom we follow, must be both our encouragement and motivation.

We look to him practically by regular reading and prayer over the scriptures. As we set the eyes of our heart on His majesty, as seen in the pages of scripture, we will find the encouragement and motivation needed to move forward. We need not look to the side or back. We must be cautious to not take our eyes off of our Savior in the gospel and so get caught up living in the past: success or failure.

We must even be discerning of how much we look at and admire the service of others to Jesus.

There is a guy in my neighborhood who is above average when it comes to lawn care. His is the best on the block. More than that, every lawn he cares for in our neighborhood looks well. Me on the other hand…lets just say I’m not that great at it compared to him.

Once again, if amid my work I get caught up looking at his lawn instead of looking where I’m going on my yard I will not be producing straight lines as I cut. I need to keep my gaze forward to where I am going.

What Christian do you admire at your church or maybe in the past? There are many men of God who I wish to be like. To a point this is good and healthy. Paul also said to the Philippians,

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Philippians 3:17

However, when we begin to look to others as the ideal role model instead of seeing their maturity as reflective of Jesus, we have a problem. The goal must always be to follow and imitate Jesus. It is He whom we ought to honor by looking to and walking after. In part that will occur by walking with brethren, but let us be sure we are only walking with them. Let us not set a mere man or woman, no matter how spiritually mature, on a high pedestal.

Such looking unto brothers and sisters in Christ can lead us toward undo worship of that person, and make us to feel inadequate. We say to ourselves, ” Brother so-and-so does this…lives with such passion for Jesus, but I am so weak. I could never be like him.” When we are cutting the lawn of the Christian life we must keep the eyes of our heart looking straight ahead to Jesus. We will falter and swerve when our eyes are not on him.

Conclusion

As we follow Jesus across the lawn of life we must never break our gaze away from him. Even when the moment we find ourself in is unsettling. That moment goes from unsettling to being our undoing when we look away from our Lord as Peter did. We keep our focus always on Jesus for in so doing we are ever reminded of his love for us. We maintain hope amid hellish times when our minds our fixed on the precious words of Christ in the scriptures. In this we find stability.

Yet, as noted above, we also must never look away from our Shepherd to find hope our motive from our past. When we take the eyes of our hearts away from the loving Shepherd to look behind on what we have or haven’t done we will swerve and miss the mark. The only event of the past that we need regularly look to, and with more frequency is the cross. We need reminding through reading and preaching of how and why the Shepherd slayed down his life for the sheep. That death dealt with the shame of our past. The fact that he loved unto death is encouragement in the moment. The Shepherd will never fail us.