Skid Marks In The Grass

 

M

om and Pop Jenkins had lived next door to us for as long as I could remember.  They were there before my parents bought the house I grew up in which meant Mom and Pop had known my parents some time before I arrived on the scene. 

 

Mom and Pop kept an immaculate yard.  Every day, especially in the spring and summer, they were tending to their flowers, mowing their lawn, watering their plants, and making sure their little Garden of Eden was in beautiful shape.  Mom and Pop’s yard, both front and back, reminded me of the Garden of Eden.  The grass was always thick and green and so many varieties of plants and flowers were always in full bloom, turning their home into a showplace.   

 

  On more than one occasion, my mother asked Mom about certain types of plants and flowers and which ones would look good in our yard.  Mom always gave her advice openly and was always willing to help whenever asked.  They were wonderful neighbors and I loved them as much as the members of my own family.  That’s why, when it happened, it grieved me very much that I had upset Mom and Pop and done something I shouldn’t have, something I had been expressly told not to do. 

 

As I grew older, my toys changed.  I graduated from tricycles, to bicycles, to minibikes.  This last hurdle was pretty hard to clear because my dad was completely against the idea.  However, after months of wearing him down, he gave in and allowed me to have my first minibike.  There were several rules I had to obey but one in particular was given with special emphasis.  Under no circumstances was I to ride through Mom and Pop’s backyard on the way to the parking lot where we kids rode our minibikes to our hearts’ content. 

 

For a while, I obeyed this rule.  I simply rode up the street and turned into the parking lot to begin riding my bike.  One day, however, I decided that the more direct route home was to go through Mom and Pop’s backyard.  So I rode the bike from the parking lot toward my house.  When I got to Mom and Pop’s backyard, however, I was going just a little too fast.  I cleared one of the flower beds and landed in the backyard.  Afraid I was going to hit something, I slammed on the brake and left a skid mark in Pop’s grass.  There was no denying what had happened, the mark was clearly visible.  I headed home, washed for supper, and I knew that at some point I would be called to account. 

 

I didn’t have to wait long.  Pop came home from work and met my dad who was walking home for supper.  I saw them from the back hall of our home discussing the mark I so obviously left in this perfect yard.  My dad came straight in, called my name, and waited for me to appear.  I took my time but finally showed up and confessed to my crime.  I went and apologized to Pop for what I had done.  However, the result was I could no longer go through Mom and Pop’s yard.  It was off limits, no questions asked!   

 

My experience related above bears a close resemblance to an encounter Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden.  God had placed them in that beautiful garden, a perfect garden with no flaws, no defects, and no skid marks in the grass.  They had been expressly forbidden to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.  For a while, they obeyed this commandment but one day the temptation proved too great.  They both ate the fruit and they both suffered the consequences for their actions. 

 

Genesis 3:7 reads, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”  Do you see the skid mark left by their disobedience?  Both Adam and Eve took a bite from that fruit and when they did the giant skid mark of sin marred their lives. The realized they were naked, not only physically naked, but spiritually naked and vulnerable to sin as well.  They gained the knowledge of good and evil but had no way of coping with it.  The made garments for themselves and hid.  When God called them to account, they gave excuses even though the skid mark of sin was obvious and blatantly visible.  Before they ate of the fruit, Eden was a perfect place.  After they took that one bite, Eden was marred, imperfect, ruined!  That one action placed a large and ugly skid mark right in the middle of God’s beautiful creation.  

 

The results of that one skid mark can still be seen all around us today.  But God was not satisfied with that skid mark and made a way for it to be removed.  He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to pay the ransom for man’s sin so that the skid mark could be removed from him.  When someone accepts Jesus Christ as their personal savior and lord, the skid mark is removed, and the relationship God wants to have with us is restored. 

  

What does the garden of your life look like today?  Is it producing blossoms and fruit for the Lord or somewhere, perhaps in the middle of your garden, is there a skid mark in the grass?  It can be removed forever.  Why don’t you have a talk with the chief gardener today!