This is my favorite time of year. Spring planting. In the Midwest, gardener's wait through some cold winters to get to this season! But before any planting takes place there is a most important step - weeding.
My daughter was a huge help last week in eradicating, digging and pulling out the common enemy to our flower beds. As we worked along side each other, I was marveling at how some of the weeds we were pulling looked so 'good' and how they could easily be mistaken for flowers. But, they had to go! Their very existence over the next few weeks would choke out the flowers that were meant to be the focus of the garden. The illustration before us blossomed with Biblical truths. After listening she said, "You should Blog it!'
In our own lives, there are people, places, habits, and thoughts that are like these weeds. They enter into our sphere of influence quietly. An intriguing new person met on the way of my day. Or a place of entertainment not normally ventured toward, but close friends encouraged promises of great fun. A food that tastes so sweet, savory, smooth. A nightly drink, just one...
Over time these new attractions take on more importance. Though there were some warnings or 'red flags' of imbalance along the way, the pattern seemed harmless. But, like the weeds that resemble my flowers, the mistake of not recognizing their influence can obliterate many a flower bed.
The Lord says He will one day separate the wheat from the weeds. In the meantime, see what is creeping into your life...you have every bit of power to encourage it's growth or eradicate it from your garden.
My daughter was a huge help last week in eradicating, digging and pulling out the common enemy to our flower beds. As we worked along side each other, I was marveling at how some of the weeds we were pulling looked so 'good' and how they could easily be mistaken for flowers. But, they had to go! Their very existence over the next few weeks would choke out the flowers that were meant to be the focus of the garden. The illustration before us blossomed with Biblical truths. After listening she said, "You should Blog it!'
In our own lives, there are people, places, habits, and thoughts that are like these weeds. They enter into our sphere of influence quietly. An intriguing new person met on the way of my day. Or a place of entertainment not normally ventured toward, but close friends encouraged promises of great fun. A food that tastes so sweet, savory, smooth. A nightly drink, just one...
Over time these new attractions take on more importance. Though there were some warnings or 'red flags' of imbalance along the way, the pattern seemed harmless. But, like the weeds that resemble my flowers, the mistake of not recognizing their influence can obliterate many a flower bed.
The Lord says He will one day separate the wheat from the weeds. In the meantime, see what is creeping into your life...you have every bit of power to encourage it's growth or eradicate it from your garden.
The Parable of the Weeds - Matthew 13:24-30
24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds[c] among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants[d] 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?’ 28 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?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 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.’”| The Gardener |
