Weeds

I was just out pulling a few weeds in the backyard. After the rains, the ground is very soft and gives way to pulling out the roots quite easily. Sure makes pulling weeds less work.

It makes me think of the two ways to get rid of weeds – aside from spraying them with pesticides. You can pull the thing out – root and all. Or, you can keep chopping off any growth above the surface, and eventually the root will die from lack of nutrients from the sun.

I guess the same goes for the sin in my life. There are times the Spirit comes and pulls something out of my life – root and all. It can be a painful experience – especially when the ground around it is hardened and dry. The process disturbs a lot of area and it takes a while until things get settled back down. Sometimes God softens the ground of my life with rain first. That is sometimes in the form of his overwhelming love – and sometimes in the form of raging storms that also bring the much needed rain.

Other times God just tells me to stay away from something – or not to do something I know I shouldn’t. Not giving in to a certain sin repeatedly does cause the desire for it to die out eventually. It’s a longer process and requires me to depend on God’s strength more to be obedient in the times of temptation.

Weeding isn’t fun. But to see a whole area well planted with no weeds is a beautiful thing. I’m thankful God is a vigilant caretaker in my life.