What is this Greenery!?

The weather was nice and I decided that it'd been too long since I'd gone biking. So I grabbed my aqua-pack, bike, wallet, keys- oh and of course, my always-present camera- and headed off on the 4-something mile trek to our local Super-Walmart; the "mall" of the Clarkstonians :-)

As I pedaled my way along a residential stretch in downtown Clarkston, all seemed just great. Then suddenly, there is a monstrous rosebush that bars my way; worse yet, it's growing much nearer at an unnervingly fierce rate. Fortunately, the sidewalks are not very high and I managed to swerve into the street just in time for a narrow miss. Whew. But just when I think it's safe, I turn out to be mistaken and plow through the branches of a large bush that are sticking out over the sidewalk... at least it wasn't thorny. Even so, I couldn't help shaking my head with annoyance- idiots, I think to myself, do they have no consideration for the well-being of fellow civilians?

Now, this may seem like one of the weirdest comparisons you've ever heard, but we can be similar in our lives to those people who let their bushes grow over the city walkways. Yeah, I know, you're probably just staring, going "Ooookay, Sarah. Whatever you say..." But really. Do we keep our actions "pruned back" or do we let them run amok and in turn, cause those around us to stumble or swerve into potentially dangerous areas (like my nearly being in the middle of a busy street)?

So, almost everybody gets told this at some point in time (and usually more than once), but its always good to be reminded: our speech and actions can greatly affect others. The question is: do we affect them to the bettering of their spiritual life, or does what we do get in the way of their walk with God and cause them to swerve off the strait & narrow road?

Pruning the bushes may seem like an unimportant task that can be put off until later, but although their growth from day to day is subtle, bushes can get wild and out of hand before we know it. Likewise, some sinful behaviors and habits in our lives may not seem like a huge deal and we figure "Oh well, one of these days I'll change my ways, but just not right now". As my youth group leader says, "You're always either growing closer to God or moving farther away from Him. There's no middle ground." If we just keep saying "Sure I need to change, but I'll change later", things can only get worse from there. I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to be the one to cause someone to fall off the sidewalk of life into dangerous streams of traffic.