Weeds

      I have been rather sedentary this winter season, as usual. There is nothing like cold weather and rain to keep me inside by the fireplace. The problem is that I get complacent with no desire to make improvements or “weed the garden.”
     So, yesterday the sun was shining bright with warmer weather, which gave me a desire to venture outside.  I decided to actually weed the garden.  I pulled the bigger weeds that were forming deep roots. The smaller weeds were too numerous without getting out the tiller, although the tiller would only bury them deeper to eventually re-appear on the surface again. I hated that those roots were getting established.  I knew they would give me a problem later before my summer crop harvest.
     The more I weeded, the more I thought about how I needed to also root the weeds out of my life every single day before they grew deeper and spread.  I also thought about what I really wanted to grow, not just during the summer sunmy days but through the cold and the rain, as well.     
     The weeds I am talking about are gossip, envy, jealously, selfishness, self-pride, and so much more.  The longer I allowed these weeds to grow, the deeper they would grow. What I desired to plant was good seed; love, good-will, a prayer life for others, a joy when other receive blessing, and much, so much more. I did not want my life to be full of weeds, growing ever deeper. I no longer wanted to be sedentary and complacent although I would have to fight my fleshly nature.
     Next, I read what Jesus said when he explained the parable about the weeds in Matthew 13, “The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom.  The weeds are the people of the evil one.”  
     My conclusion is that it does not pay to let even the small weeds grow. They eventually become bigger, growing ever deeper, spreading, creating havoc, smothering out the good seed. It appears I have a daily work to do with the help of Scripture and God by my side. I am continually a "work in progress." 
     
      
    

The Green Lawn

     Overlooking my “Friendly Shade” is a massive, fresh mowed green lawn.  How did it get so beautiful?  To answer my own question, I had to go back in time and remember the field of rugged stumps and underbrush.  The mounds of limbs and tree tops we had to drag and burn, at one time, seemed overwhelming.  It took a lot of determination and work to make this yard what we hoped and dreamed for it to be.    

     The first thing we had to do was figure out how we wanted the landscape to look.  Next we begin to burn and get rid of all the rubbish before we could even level, add topsoil, and prepare the ground for a new harvest of grass.  But, then just what kind of grass did we want?  How much water would it take for it to survive?  The planning was just baby-steps to getting to where we really wanted to be.  After all the planning, planting, watering, we had to nurture it.  No matter how beautiful it is today, we must continually water, clip, trim, and fertilize it. 

     Where, you might ask, am I going with all this?  It is a good comparison of   similar steps we must take on the highway to becoming good Christian servants of God, the One who “nailed our sins to the cross” to provide His people with a beautiful, well-disciplined life and to prepare for our lavish highway to heaven.  Of course, God already has our lives planned out for us, but we must take some necessary steps to get ourselves where He wants to take us. 

     To do this we first must decide to accept God as our One and only Savior.  Then we must decide what seeds we want to plant.  Do we want love, peace, good-will, wisdom, and a righteous life?  If so, those seeds have to be planted;  they need to be nurtured, and they need to be watered daily for them to grasp and take hold and form a deep root system. The only way to plant good seed is by reading God’s word and living by His word.  As with any yard, a pretty lawn is subject to drought, pestilence, and weeds.  Our Christian walk is the same way.   The more we delve into His word, the more we attend His church, and the more we associate with His people, the deeper our root system will grow and the less drought, pestilence, and weeds we will grow. 

     My lawn is, truly, a continuing work in progress.  Pestilence weakens me and my root system often tries to die, but when I begin to nurture and water it in prayer time and thanksgiving my roots once again spread out and grow.  My joy returns and my faith grows stronger.  I pray that God is looking down on my Christian lawn and will one day say, “Well done!”