I mowed the lawn today.   Our yard is large and hilly so it takes real effort to complete it.  One might ask, “Why do you mow so much grass?”  Frankly, I used to think it was a cosmetic job.  But on the farm most things have a practical purpose.

Short, mowed grass discourages snakes and other critters from making our space their own.  So, though mowing is a sweaty, 8-hour job for me—I will do it.

So how is mowing done?  As in the farm field, mowing starts on the outside edges of a piece of ground.  These are the lines we follow to make a circuit till the entire surface is clipped.

A farmer does not want to work up his neighbor’s land, he wants to work on his own land.  So he uses the lines to guide his work.  The surveyors’ lines put up ages ago still guide mankind today.

Isn’t it great that we have lines to follow that guide us in our work?  How grateful we can be for those who have gone on before us and established those lines.

In our computer age, many youth have technical knowledge which leaves a lot of the older folks in the dust.  One might dare to think that the youngsters know more than their elders.   Ah, but do they really?

Have you ever heard the mystery-type questions like, “How were the pyramids made?”  Evidently, the ancients knew something that we don’t know, wouldn’t you say?  It is too bad that that knowledge did not get passed down to the youths by their elders—or maybe the youths did not care to learn it when they had the chance.

Whatever the reason, it is worth learning from those who have gone on before…our ancestors and the ancients.

The real ancients’ stories are written in the pages of the Holy Bible. 

Returning to our discussion of lines, let us consider the misuse of them.  If one oversteps the lines that have been established, he becomes a trespasser.  He takes on to himself the privilege of using land that is not his to use, which is against the law.

God has put up lines for us to follow which are also written in the Holy Bible.  Those lines show us God’s dominion.  Man tends to step over those lines and assume authority where he ought to not be.  Man does trespass against God.

That reminds me of a special request in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Even if you cannot retrace your ancestry to find the lines they left for you, you can resort to the Holy Bible to find the lines that God has set up for you.

Mowing takes time and is useful for giving me moments to ponder on things that God has done.  During that time even simple things like lines can point to Him.

As the psalmist says in Psalm 16:6, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.”(RSV)

photo credit: Robert S. Donovan via photo pin cc