Pull out those weeds!
When I was mowing my yard recently, I noticed a very tall weed that had grown up in our front bushes. I had not noticed it until the nuisance grew taller than the bush. When I pulled it, it came out cleanly, root in tact. I was glad, because I know in order for the weed to be destroyed and not grow back, I must pull it out completely, including the root. If I just pull the top off, the weed will grow back, probably bigger and stronger than before.
It reminded me of my sin. I can’t just “pull the top off,” but I must get down all the way to the root.
God showed me an example of this with my teenage son. He was up watching a movie, but I wanted to go to bed. The DVD was a series of 30-minute programs. I told him he could watch one 30-minute show, then he needed to go to bed. I trusted him to obey my directions. Two hours later I awoke to the sound of the TV playing downstairs. He had disobeyed my instructions, and had watched the whole 2-hour DVD.
Now, he may think what he had done wasn’t “that bad.” He hadn’t been drinking or smoking. He wasn’t lying or swearing. He hadn’t snuck out of the house. He wasn’t looking at pornography. He wasn’t teasing siblings. He certainly wasn’t doing anything illegal. He was watching a G rated movie for goodness’ sakes!
It wasn’t that his behavior was “bad.” But, getting down to the ROOT of the problem, he had deliberately chosen to DISOBEY a direct and completely CLEAR command. It wasn’t that I was upset about him watching the program, (that was just the head of the weed!) but I was angry that he disobeyed my command. Disobedience is the ROOT that has to be pulled out….and that thinking of “I know better than mom. I can stay up late and be OK. It doesn’t hurt anything to finish the movie.”
Hmmm…….. Sounds like the lie in the garden. “You can be like God. You know just as much as God. Surely you won’t die.”
Sometimes we look at the “top of our weeds”, thinking that they aren’t so bad. And..we let them grow. But, what we MUST do is locate the ROOT and pull it out! Get rid of the root of sin.
The root of bitterness.
The root of envy.
The root of unforgiveness.
The root of complaining.
The root of jealousy.
Father God, we praise You! Thank You that You never allow those weeds to stay in our hearts. You want to pull out the sin by its ROOT. Thank You, Lord, that I am ROOTED in YOUR LOVE! Lord, I give You my heart and ask that You remove any root of sin. Lord, I don’t want just the top pulled off! I want the whole sin pulled OUT, root and all! In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen!
I join you in this heart felt prayer.
Bless you, Denise!
This is so true!! Thank you for this reminder to have God pull any weeds(including the roots)that may be in our hearts!!
God Bless!!
Tracy, this is excellent! Everyone needs to read this! Thanks for sharing.
Tracy, this is AWESOME! What an amazing analogy to show us that we need to take care of the ROOTS and not just the superficial “things” that cause our hearts to not trust completely in God and His plan for us. The devil will smile every time we just pull the top of our weeds, so they may come back again and again, stronger and stronger. Satan will feel his strength grow each time we fail to just put our foot down and say “NO!” BE BOLD! Thanks Tracy for this reminder today:)
You are right, Tracy. Sometimes we just pull the topical root off and the root stays. Thank you so much for sharing.
Amen on that prayer. Love this analogy Tracy.
Very convicting, Tracey. God used a weed once to show me sin in my life. I thought it was a flower, just starting to grow. A week later and overnight (I kid you not) it turned into the ugliest thing I’d ever seen. Spikey and full of thorns. I had to dig down deep to get it out. As I dug, God told me clearly, “this is how sin works in your life.”
Thank you for the reminder. I needed it today. 🙂