In a post last year, I mentioned how I had spent the past few summers working on a golf course (Philadelphia Country Club) on the grounds crew.  This place has produced so many quality stories and learning experiences for me, I constantly find myself referring back to them.  Equally as enchanting has been the overall beauty of the land, though.  I cherish those early mornings looking out at the rising sun and hearing the birds chirp.  I catch myself day-dreaming about the rolling fairways clothed in vibrant green while taking in the sweet aroma the grass clippings released each morning.  There has always been something about golf courses in general which has drawn me to the sport, but after working 3 years at “Philly” as we call it, I’ve noticed the detail that truly goes into each course.  While recalling all the small details and jobs we did as a crew to keep the course looking perfect, I remembered one job in particular that seemed to point out such a cool truth about the human heart when looked at in a certain way.

The sixth hole is one of the most versatile holes on the entire course.  The short par five is an absolute piece of eye candy, strategically placed in perfect line of sight with the club house.  The slight dogleg right intimidates golfers when they see the heart of the course, a large pond equipped with two fountains, looming on the right side of the fairway. Feeding into this pond is a small stream which flows between the larger fairway and a smaller one that climbs up a steep hill and connects with the green.  Thick Bermuda grass creeps along the banks of the stream and is very difficult to contain.  During the scorching months of the summer, the roots stretch out so far that they actually start to grow in the stream.  One day last summer, three of us were assigned to clear the stream of all the excess Bermuda that found its way in.  When we got there, I think we all wanted to call it a day.  The amount of water visible in some parts of the stream was as thin as a pencil.  I think the most open area of the stream not overcome by grass was about the size of a basketball, it was incredible.  The grass was so deeply rooted that when would go to pull it out, a significant chunk of mud would come with it and water would quickly fill in the vacant spot.  Long story short, it took us the entire afternoon to finish and the weight of the muck nearly broke a bed off of one of our work carts while transporting it to our dump.  While cleaning the stream however, we noticed that down the brook close to where it connected to the large pond, there was little to no water flow.  In fact, there was this nasty, red foam growing on the surface of the water.  It definitely did not look healthy.  A stale stench of stagnant water was also noticeable.  The more and more grass we removed though, water started gushing free, flowing down stream and pouring into the pond.  At the time I really could care less, I just wanted to shower. The other day though, I remembered that story from last summer and how it seemed to explain a huge issue I have wrestled with many times.

I got to thinking, is there anything holding back the Holy Spirit from flowing into my heart?  Are any sinful roots present that I am not seeing, but direly need to be recognized and removed? Taking that a step further, how does that state of my heart affect those that I love and ultimately my perspective of my savior, the owner and creator of my heart?

I think it is extremely difficult for us to navigate our own hearts for whatever reason.  We think, we feel, we act.  Rarely do we think about what we think about.  We see the results of our actions and then we think about the series of thoughts and feelings leading up to the action and forget where they came from, the heart.  The only reason we cleaned out that stream was because of how it was affecting the pond.  Fungus and algae began to grow at a rapid pace when the water flow into the pond slowed.  This affected the overall health of the pond, not to mention appearance. So our superintendent decided it was time to put some work into the stream so that ultimately the pond would be cleaned.

To try and clean this pond ourselves without paying attention to the stream first would be pointless.  Another few weeks and the pond would be filled to the brim with algae and fungus again due to the lack of water flow.

Similarly, to try and cleanse our hearts on our own proves time and time again to be pointless.  Getting in that mindset usually just muddies the water even more.  It’s overwhelming, and rightfully so because it is impossible!

However, when the grass was removed and fresh water began filling into the pond again, within two days the algae and fungus on the surface of the water was gone.  The funky smell went away, and the glass-like water of the pond was restored to its picturesque form.

Asking God to remove the filth in our minds and lives that block the Holy Spirit from flowing into and through us does the same to our heart.  It cleans it, because it allows the only one who truly can do that cleaning to get to work.  Our hearts begin showing more signs of beauty to others through our words and actions.  Removing that filth comes by recognizing it as such and surrendering it to God, followed by the renewing of our minds which comes from envisioning what is said in His word and trusting it to change our inner most beings.  The change seems to come on when we aren’t suspecting it, but it is felt.  We can be sure that if we ask for it, it is occurring.  Whether we “feel” it or not.  A disconnection from the common-place feelings and emotions of a fallen world is replaced with heart-knowledge and a confidence to boldly go to Jesus out of the faith daily.  David, a mighty warrior who God used heavily, also saw the need to ask the Lord to maintain his heart in Psalm 139: 23 & 24:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

We all need the streams to our hearts cleaned out each day just as a golf course needs its fairways cut every day; to be operational for its designed purpose.

More and more it seems vibrantly apparent to me that the only way to go about navigating our hearts is to recognize them as broken.  After all, as Jeremiah 17:9 states, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?”  However, the very next verse gives us hope in the fact that “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind” (v.10). 

He then delivers the anecdote by moving in our hearts, thrashing the lies deceiving us by giving us an understanding of the truth; that we are HIS and he came and died in human flesh in order to purify our hearts that we may live with and for Him if we chose to simply believe in him and leave our old selves at the door.  Acts 15:9 assures us that he “purifies our hearts by faith”. The simplicity and solidity of the Gospel is the ONLY heart cleaning device out there.   To realize that we are in dire need of a savior is to embrace that one does actually exist and no matter what, He is ready to begin, to steadily work on, and to finish the work in our hearts that HE alone started. The levees holding back the living water can be opened with humble repentance, and faithful acceptance.