Pulling Weeds
Back home we have a designated place where we park our fifth wheel trailer. To prevent a big mud hole from developing during a hard rain, my uncle used his tractor to make a level pad, then gravel was spread over the area. But now something threatens to destroy our hard work. Without us doing a single thing, weeds have begun to grow up through the gravel and seem determined to take over this area. Can I make a confession? I hate to spray for weeds. Nothing could be more boring than spraying weed killer onto something that I did not plant in the first place. Another frustration is because you can spend weeks trying to keep a flower or plant alive, only to see it die. But weeds seem to grow more aggressively the more you neglect them!
In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus tells of a man who sowed good seed into his field.
Matthew 13:24. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Now obviously this parable has a different application at the end but I want us to focus on this portion. Imagine that night has come upon this field of freshly plowed ground. Then out of the darkness a figure robed in black slowly makes his way into the field and begins casting seeds. These are seeds of sin.
Who is this mysterious sower? He appears in Genesis chapter 3 and there we find his first handful of seeds being scattered.
Genesis 3:1 “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
Seeds of doubt produce some of the most poisonous fruit. When we began to doubt the things that God has confirmed in our hearts, we then try to rationalize the sin of disobedience. Those seeds took root in Eve’s heart and she saw that the fruit was “pleasant to the eye.” She then took the bite of disobedience and shared Satan’s poison with her husband. The tragedy that followed was of unimaginable proportions.
Another place we find poisonous weeds is in 2 Samuel 11. David founds himself in a state of idleness when his men were out to war. He beheld Bathsheba from the roof top and allowed the lust of the flesh to take root. Instead of pulling out these sinful weeds, they were allowed to grow and Bathsheba’s innocent husband was killed in an attempt to hide the awful sin. Friend, the thing we often fail to realize is that by doing nothing, sinful weeds will take over and cost us more effort in the long term! What seemed to be a moment of pleasure for David turned into a lifetime of regret.
Other poisonous variety of sinful weeds are found in Hebrews 12:15. “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”
Anyone who has walked that long dark road of terminal illness will tell you that tensions can run high. The constant uncertainty and the long nights with no sleep can cause emotions to be raw and unfiltered. A dear friend of ours who was a caregiver for a terminally ill patient experienced some very hurtful things that embedded deep inside of her. One day she was tending to flowers outside the home and noticed a clump of weeds growing under the back porch. Lattice had been installed around the base of porch which made it difficult to access anything underneath. As she stared at those weeds, she began to see a parallel of the bitterness that was trying to grow in her heart. She then bent down on her knees and reached through the lattice to grasp those weeds. While doing this she said out loud, “Weeds, I didn’t plant you here and you certainly do not belong in this flower garden.” And as she felt the roots coming loose she also felt those roots of bitterness dissolving in her heart. Weeds of bitterness can be some of the most difficult to release because they are rooted in our deepest emotions.
With our current weed problem back home, the issue is that we have not maintained a vigilant fight against something that is determined to take over that area. Satan is forever scattering seeds and he will continue to do so until we breathe our last breath. We must be sober and be vigilant like the apostle admonished us in 1 Peter 5:8.
Thank God there is victory for those who keep pulling weeds!