My backyard faces a beautifully groomed, park-like cemetery. Because the headstones lay flat and there are lots of trees and little benches are strategically placed, most people who come to sit by our poo, or to swim never realize that morbidity lies just beyond the fence.
Instead, they comment on the serene view and the fantastic get-away we have right in our own backyard.
But this morning, as I was cutting back the vines that grow on the fence between our yard and the cemetery, it occurred to me how incredibly deceptive it all is. The sun was cascading gently over the green, lush leaves of the cemetery trees. The birds were chirping.There’s even a tulip patch with bright red and yellow blooms that was planted no doubt to comfort those who come to visit their loved one’s graves.
Everything about the cemeteries surface speaks of life and energy, but it’s just a facade. The truth is there are hundreds of putrid, decaying, worm-eaten bodies just below the surface.
The stark reality of it all is quite sobering, isn’t it?
A similar deception goes on in a hundred different ways in our lives.
Consider the drug dealer who uses a beautiful woman to lure a young man to take his first hit. Or the casinos who offer glitz, glamour and a chance to escape life’s pressures to working men and woman to spend their paychecks. And pornography, which is poised like a cobra waiting to strike with one click of the mouse. These are just a few examples of seemingly beauty on the outside when all the while there is deterioration on the inside.
God help us to see the truth clearly and never be deceived. Sin comes in so many pretty packages, and seeks to trip us up. Help us Lord Jesus to recognize the lures for what they are. Empower us to refuse its temptation. Give us spiritual eyes to see below the surface. In Jesus name, Amen.