Weeds

In our backyard we have two side yards. The yard on the north side of our house does not get any sun, so in the rainy Northwest it often becomes the muddy play area where my daughters find worms, slugs and other wiggly creatures. The south yard is larger and we have planted grass on this side. But because it is not in direct view from our sliding glass door or windows it often gets neglected. My husband and I recently went out and noticed that weeds had grown in this side yard. A very large blackberry bush was in the middle off these weeds.

We decided to take an evening and clean out the weeds. Armed with rakes, shovels, clippers, and a wheelbarrow for the debris, we headed out to tackle the job. Some of the weeds came up easily. The roots were not very deep or they hadn't been around long enough to establish a firm hold. Those were quickly disposed of. Some were a but harder. They required that we put on our gloves, find the base and pull them up. We had to check and make sure we got all of the roots. A few of these middle weeds had started to grow large. Their roots were large and they were starting to become firmly established. But with a little more effort we were able to remove these as well. Finally we came to the Blackberry bush. First we cut off all of the branches. These were full of thorns and our arms became scratched as we disposed of the limbs. Soon our yard was looking really nice. But we were not finished. To the passerby our yard looked clean and empty of weeds but to us we still saw the root bases that needed to be dealt with. We found the base of the blackberry bush. It was very large and firmly rooted. Using our shovel we started digging it out. We cleared the root and placed our shovel underneath it. that is when I discovered something completely unexpected. This think root had roots shooting out all over our yard. As we pulled up the main root we found off shoots.

As we followed these offshoots to make sure everything was up I was struck how similar this project was to sin. Many times we leave areas of our lives neglected. We reason that no one sees this part of my life so I don't have to worry too much about it. All of us have areas of our lives that we are more susceptible to temptation. Our enemy knows these areas too. We have to get out our tools and go to work. Not by ourselves but with our heavenly Father. Some of the sins will be easy to get rid of. They have not had time to take root. Others will be a little harder. We will have to really pull and make sure we get all of the root. But some sins have had a long time to take root and have spread their tendrils into other areas of our lives. Maybe its lying and we started just by telling little lies but it has grown and now we lie to our boss, souse, friends and family. Perhaps it is with our internet use. We know we should not go to certain sites. At first it was only once or twice a week. Now it is daily and we spend time plotting how to spend even more time. Maybe it is our anger. or spending, or overeating. Whatever the sin is you can not remove it by yourself. Only God can help you. He may send friends into your life to hold you accountable. He may require that you give something up. He will pull the weed and follow the tendrils until it is fully extracted.
A wise person knows that a clean life is the best way to live. Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.