Jake and A. J. Olson suffer daily from the effects of cystic fibrosis that makes it hard for them to breathe. Over the course of their lives, unless treatment methods advance, their bodies will deteriorate more rapidly than their peers. No one has found a cure for their disease. Their dad Rob loves them and does all he can to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Every year he uses his 40,000-square-foot lawn to host a big benefit concert that raised $20,000 last year for the cause.
You can imagine Rob Olson’s horror when he stepped out his door and surveyed the huge lawn just a few weeks ahead of his scheduled 2012 event. A vast rolling sea of brown filled his gaze. Here and there little strips of green grass highlighted surviving patches of the once beautiful lawn. A few details missed, a bit of bad advice and all his good intentions had turned his yard into a sea of dirt and destruction.
Only four days before, Rob had walked into his favorite local garden store hunting for that good brand of weed killer he’d bought the year before. The familiar brown bottle was missing but a helpful employee explained a nice bottle of Double Play in a way that sounded like an even better version of last year’s weed killer. Not only would it knock out weeds, but it would also keep them from coming back for up to six more months. Who could resist? Even five bottles at $35 each along with 14 bags of fertilizer that brought the bill past $800 wasn’t too much to ask for helping his sons breathe easier.
Maybe something was bugging him at the back of his brain, because Rob asked another employee for advice on when to use the fertilizer following the weed killer. Two employees dived in and read the label and dispensed authoritative advice. By now, having gotten the opinions of three others and having read the bottle himself, Rob headed home and sprayed his giant lawn with Double Play. Double Play gets its name, not from killing weeds and keeping them dead, but from its ability to destroy weeds and grass in one fell swoop. That might be great for parking lots but not massive green lawns.
When Rob Olson set out to warn the public and beg the manufacturer for clearer labeling, news spread rapidly. Television cameras came, bloggers posted and the forum comments began to fill with opinions. Here’s a sample of the care and compassion that flowed from many:
“Read the instructions RETARD!’
“What an idiot! Blame the company because he didn’t read the directions! How typical of today’s people — blame, blame, blame. Never accept responsibility for your actions.”
Many similar comments make you wonder which is more corrosive, Double Play or the human double standard. Rob’s benefit event and lawn had lots of interesting developments in their future and so do we. God has left some pretty clearly labeled warnings on sin. The biggest one comes stamped with these words: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). It’s hard to ignore daily news reports, funerals, graveyards and encroaching wrinkles, aches and pains. It’s far harder for some people to accept God’s plain statements that the presence of death in our world comes from our sin. “Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)). Blinded by the desires of the moment, many move heedlessly forward looking for advice from others but failing to sit down and carefully read God’s instruction manual, the Bible. They’re too busy, too smart, too uninterested. Some of them are too busy dispensing their own advice all over the neighborhood and Internet to carefully consider what God has to say.
Neighbors might let us know how kind we are, how pure our motives seem, how to appease God with religious activity, better ways of being at peace and dying gracefully. But what do the instructions from our Maker say? “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9)). Sin is a life-killer, but God’s gift of faith shows God as a life-giver. Facing the facts and accepting the responsibility for our actions before a holy God helps to open our eyes to our need for His gifts of faith, mercy and grace.
Publicity swirled around Rob Olson as his story escaped his backyard and hit the national news media. Another fertilizer and weed killer manufacturer stepped in to fully remake his lawn. Their spokesman said he was “jealous of what your lawn will look like when we’re finished” making it look beautiful. An event venue opened up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A new list of attractions was prepared and Rob’s benefit event for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was expected to generate more revenue than ever. Maybe someday Jake and A. J. will get that much-needed cure or improved treatment for the disease that stalks their bodies.
Our much needed cure for the disease of sin is readily available and far more beautiful than anything we have ever possessed. The Lord Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for sin so that we would never need to be separated forever from a loving God. He offers pardon for sin and peace for the soul to any who come, not with arms full of good deeds, but with the admission of being helpless sinners. Don’t fail to read God’s Word the Bible and receive His full remedy for sin. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)).