Marty’s Not Here Anymore

“I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, behold, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles were covering its face, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I beheld and considered it well; I looked and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep – So shall your poverty come as a robber, and your want as an armed man.”  

~ Proverbs 24:30-34 (Amplified Bible)

 

I used to have a next-door neighbor named Marty. If I had to give a brief description of him, I’d say that he reminds me the character, Ned Flanders, on “Simpsons” TV show. Marty was a really nice guy.

My house and Marty’s were attached twins. As a result, we shared a row of hedges that separated our backyards, and ran from our back doors to the end of the yards (about thirty feet). I’m not sure if it was because my house had been uninhabited for a while before I bought it, or because the previous owners were up in age and unable to do it; but whatever the reason, Marty made it his responsibility to trim the hedges. Whenever I came home from church on Sunday afternoons, his lawn (and sometimes mine) was freshly cut and the hedges were neatly trimmed. All that was left for me to do was mow my lawn in the backyard, and trim my rose bushes.

But a few years later, Marty moved away. Although I continued to cut my grass, I grew less and less interested in trimming the hedges. It seemed as if I suddenly became oblivious to the necessity to cut, snip, trim or clip the hedges. I attempted it once or twice, but I somehow convinced myself that I would never be able to do it as neatly and make the task as manageable as Marty. After a while, I just said, “Whatever!” Well, this didn’t solve the problem. It just made it worse. As result, what I thought were plain old plants, were weeds, and some of those weeds became trees!

One recent Sunday afternoon, I realized it was time to take control of the situation, before the trees took control of my backyard. When I attempted to attack the problem with a pair of hedge trimmers, I discovered that the task was going to take more of an effort than I had anticipated! I had to go borrow limb cutters from a friend. You see; the branches had extended so far into the yard that I wasn’t able to get to them standing up. It was if they were keeping me at a distance. I had to squat down!

I could hear myself saying, “This kind comes out only by prayer and fasting.” It was a moment of humility, after all the moments of haughtiness, when I said, whatever! Yet, the comment had nothing to do with the branches I was about to cut, but everything to do with the price of procrastination, versus cost of its prevention! As I aimed towards the bottom, and my ankles and knees began to bend, my joints sounded like twigs and branches snapping. Reaching forward for the first cut, I thought to myself, “By cutting off this one branch, I’ll actually be taking out eight!” It seemed as if it were simultaneous that the Holy Spirit said, “Do you see the ramifications that result when you neglect your responsibilities? Do you realize the extra work; the extra effort and energy that has to be exerted now, because you didn’t do it earlier (previous seasons)?”

At that moment, before I could open my mouth, He said, “Marty’s not here anymore.” I knew exactly what he meant! It was more than my maintenance of the yard, or lack thereof. It was about the maintenance of my life, and making sure I didn’t leave out the little things that make a big difference later on in life. With that single statement, the Holy Spirit was able to extinguish every excuse and explanation I was intending to offer. He then began to give me examples of others who ended up far away from where they envisioned, because of offering a similar excuse.

• He showed me the adult male who kept a messy apartment, because his mom wasn’t there to pick up after him like she did when he lived at home.
• He showed me the college student who was often late for class and constantly taking make up tests, because there was no one there to wake him up or make him get out of bed in the morning.
• He showed me the young lady that often ends up in wrong relationships or in trouble because the clothes she wears are too tight, or just plain inappropriate for the man she’s trying to attract. She seems to think that saying, “Somebody should have said something to me!” excuses her.

In all of the above scenarios, the Holy Spirit seemed to be showing me what He had succinctly said to me seconds earlier: “Marty’s not here anymore.” Simply put, I needed to step up and assume responsibility!Perhaps your problem isn’t a hedge. Perhaps it’s health, hygiene, homework or housework. It could possibly, be hiding or some other bad habit. The point is: we’re going to have to take responsibility. If we want to reap the rewards, get restored, or gain recognition and live like royalty; we’ve got to do the right things!

I’ve heard it said that successful people do the things that unsuccessful people are not willing to do. This principle applies to Christians as well. We have to be consistently responsible when it comes to renewing our minds, reading our Bibles, reverencing God and responding to Him when He calls us to pray, reaching out to others who are lost, cultivating healthy relationships, and remembering that “Marty’s not here anymore!”

© 2006 by Robert L. Warring

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 10th, 2006 at 7:21 am and is filed under Daily Reads, Robert Warring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.