Weeding and Sin

Strange topic for a blog post, right? It's just something that has been on my mind lately, and as I shared with Chris, he affirmed that it wasn't just weirdness in my own mind talking, but that it was worth sharing. Sometimes the Holy Spirit talks to me in amazing ways, even through menial tasks such as weeding. Over the past month, I've been battling weeds here in the flower beds at the house. Not just a few weeds here and there, but two trash cans full of weeds that apparently have not been taken care of. I found weeds where I didn't even think there could be weeds. I think it comes from not having the same people live here for more than a few months - I am not really sure anyone ever took ownership of the "garden" and wanting it to look presentable. Anyway, enough of that...onto the revelation.

The fact is, that while I was pulling weeds a few days after giving them a good spray down with industrial strength weed killer, I found that I still had to dig down deep in the soil and make sure that the root came along with the 'flowered' part of the plant. Beautiful as some of them were, they were still weeds. Ugly as some of them were, they were still weeds. It's kind of like sin. Sometimes there are things in our lives that are blatantly ugly. Sin that doesn't hide, we can see it, we know it's there and we just pass right on by without "weeding" it out of our lives. Then there's the "beautiful" weeds. The ones that seem ok at first; we rationalize, say they produce flowers, say they will beautify the area. But as they grow, their true nature comes out - they are nothing but weeds, and they get larger and become more entrenched into the ground than if we would have taken care of them in the first place.

So how do you remedy these weeds? I figure some will just pull the tops - they figure if they get rid of what can just be seen on the surface, then there will not be sin below. Maybe they will avoid looking at their weeds by simply passing them by. Others will realize that only through a good "spraying" of scripture, prayer and walking in worship with Christ and others will get those deep roots. They let the weed killer sink down into their souls and fend off the sin that has become entwined into their lives. It doesn't happen in a day, or a week, but takes a lifetime of tending to your own garden with the right weed killer...I'm envisioning Jesus with a jug of spray goin' at my weed infested heart - it's kinda funny actually. Well, metaphorically of course, spray 'em down and pull 'em out.

Funny - who woulda ever thought weeds and sin were alike? Oh, that's right, Jesus did.