This subject is a deeper one, just like the roots of some of those annoying, pesky weeds.

I love to work outside in the yard. Much of my time is spent battling those stubborn weeds, those “plants” that I don’t want on my turf. Usually I will resort to pulling them by hand out of the rock bed or around the patio. Yes, spraying them with weed killer is faster and easier, but I prefer the hands on method. Its much more satisfying for me.

Not all weeds are created equal! I’ve learned that some weeds don’t have much of a root system, so they are easily pulled out. Other weeds have a main root that goes down deep into the dirt like a carrot and it requires more strength to pull it up along with finesse and a little patience. Other weeds are offshoots from the main one, and are connected to the neighboring weed, requiring even more time to track down the source of the offshoots and then pull them all out.

But for ALL weeds, you need patience if you want to get rid of them. If you are in a hurry, you will pull too fast resulting in not getting the entire root, but just the stem and the flowers or leaves. For example, if its a dandelion with multiple leaves, you need to gather all of the leaves together, then pull slowly but firmly. You must get the taproot because if you don’t, your yard will look better for a few days, but then that dandelion grows back and this time its bigger and brought some friends!

The same can be said about sin in our life.

Sin is like a weed: if we don’t rid our life of those temptations that would cause us to stumble and will choke our growth, then those sins will overtake us and our spiritual growth will be stunted, or worse.

We must eliminate them by searching our heart for the root of the problem. We are susceptible to these pesky small sins creeping in. They are a weakness, something we see or do, or something that draws us away from living the life that the Lord has called us to lead. That’s what HAS to get uprooted! If we choose to let those weeds or temptations linger, and maybe just ignore them or say they aren’t that bad, we are just allowing them to worsen, and are in denial of the problem. This will give that sin the time it needs to grow even bigger taking over a space in our life that will not remain hidden for long, and will affect our daily walk with the Lord and our testimony with others.

Jesus put another parable before them saying,
“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'”
Matthew 13:24-43

Remember that some weeds are even quite pretty, like the photo of the day. They masquerade as something, and we even enjoy gazing at them and having them in our garden, when in reality it has ulterior motives and is an imitation: it looks good on the outside, but it plans on invading!

Search your heart. Ask those hard questions. Is this choice helpful or hurtful? Will that object or thing in my life help me to grow or not? It’s either a flowering plant, or a weed.

Food for thought: Will that weakness crowd out the fruits of the Spirit and your faith become dry? It’s not too late to dig in, root out, and water God’s garden in your heart.

Fun facts: Weeds are either Annuals, Perennials or Biennials. Annual weeds seed in heavily and grow quickly. Killing the young plants prevent them from seeding. Perennials/Biennials are slower to grow and bloom. With these, pulling them soon with root removal is best.

Photo by: Kari Wiseman – Wet Clover.