Doing the Work of Weeding
Our yard suffered with us spending last summer in Germany. Neighbors did an AMAZING job keeping the front yard alive during a drought, but the backyard became infested with weeds. Weeds like I’ve never seen.
That means this summer, I’ve spent pockets of time outside yanking weeds out by as much root as I can. Monday night we had a great rain, so Tuesday I was outside pulling a small mountain of dandelions and other, unnamed weeds. (The pile is really more impressive than the photo shows)
It was a hot process. My back began to ache. I even got a little sweaty — amazing considering it wasn’t quite seventy degrees outside. And for every weed I pulled, ten waited. I’d make a little progress and then look around and wonder what I’d accomplished.
It made me think about faith. I have pockets of sin. Areas of character that blemish an otherwise green field. If I leave the sin in place, it grows, the roots go deeper, and it pushes out the Christ-like areas in my life. If I ignore them, before long my life is covered in sin.
But when I’m willing to do the work, God comes alongside me. His Spirit gives me the strength and courage to keep pulling just one more weed. Life may be a process of pulling one more weed, but I believe it will reveal more of Christ each time.
So let’s look for those times when conditions are ripe. The grounds wet, the tools are at hand, and let’s dig deeper into Christ so we can yank out the roots of sin and self. Anyone want to join me?
