Just over a month ago, I bragged on Facebook about finally getting
Weeds overtook our garden while we were gone
shrubs and flowers planted to landscape our three-year-old home.
Then we were gone for a month for a mission trip and vacation.
We returned to find a forest had engulfed our house that would require the entire Narnian army to slice through it to access the door.
Okay, I exaggerate. But the heat, humidity, and neglect had combined to produce four-foot-high thickets of weeds that threaten to choke out our carefully tended plants. I dread the hours of labor that will be needed to remove all those weeds. Even though we thought we had removed the weeds before planting our new bushes, every missed weed found a foothold and took advantage of our absence to achieve its own success.
This reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the sower who scattered seeds on three different types of ground. Some of the seeds, He said, fell among thorns, referring to “one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Matthew 13:23, ESV).
If we are not careful and we neglect to tend to our spiritual life, removing the “weeds” of sin before they grow into thorny bushes, we can find those weeds choking our faith. Our life becomes unfruitful, and we drift farther and farther from a life of devotion to God.
Tending to our Christian life requires daily attention–spending time in God’s Word and in prayer, weeding out the tiny tendrils of sin before they are allowed to grow.
Weeds thrive on neglect. But if you ask, God will help you rid your life of the weeds of sin, no matter how big they have grown.
