Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Every year in the late spring or early summer, I know I must be careful making tee times because it’s the aerification season. I usually avoid playing during that time. It is not fun to have ‘bumpy putts’ on the green.
Aerification has three important objectives. It relieves soil from compaction and provides a method for improving the soil mixture around the highest part of the roots. It also reduces or prevents the accumulation of excess thatch (that pesky grass that spreads up and out). This process is performed with a machine that plugs holes into the ground.
After punching holes in the greens, a sand mixture is spread across the surface, creating better oxygen circulation and which allows the roots to grow down instead of up. If aerification is not done, the greens will become so compacted that the grass will suffocate, and they may die out.
The process of aerification is like sanctification in the Christian walk. Sanctification begins when we are born again. It is a progressive process that continues in the life of every Christian. Being a Christian requires transforming our thinking, acting, and speaking (John 17:16-19). Sadly, at times, we continue to behave in ways that are contrary to God’s commands. This struggle between evil and good is like the thatch that can overtake a putting green.
Paul in Galatians best describes this inner struggle: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17).
We cannot do this on our own. That is why Jesus gives us his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can empower us to walk a pure and holy life so we do not walk contrary to what we believe or allow any root to grow up in us and make us unholy (Heb. 12:15).
As greens can get compacted over time, so can our spiritual lives with the entanglement of sin (Heb. 12:1). The Holy Spirit is grieved by our sin when we choose to choke Him out of our lives. Paul warns us, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). The Holy Spirit is ‘oxygen’ to the soul.
The aerification process happens yearly on golf courses and cannot be skipped, nor can sanctification in the Christian walk. These processes will regularly take place. The irony in the aerification process and a believer’s sanctification is that both occur when they are in their strongest conditions. Usually, the greens are in the best shape before aerification. Similarly, we may feel the strongest in our walk with the Lord when the Lord chooses to prune us.
As the superintendent of the golf course cares for the condition of the greens, so does the Lord care for the spiritual condition of our hearts. As Paul exhorts, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (1 Thess. 5:23).
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the ‘Superintendent’ of our souls. Holy Spirit, empower us to live according to your Word. Amen