I have a love-hate relationship with weeds. I hate them in my lawn and flowers, but they are beautiful along the roadside. Have you ever noticed the wonderful colors of weeds in the median of the road? Purples, yellows, lavenders, royal blues. Simply gorgeous!
Remember how weeds got here to begin with? Because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, we find God pronouncing His judgment: “Cursed is the ground because of you…. It will produce thorns and thistles for you” (Genesis 3:17-18). Notice what God said? He said the ground would produce thorns and thistles FOR YOU. Weeds are reminders. They remind us of the cost of our lack of trust and dependence upon the Lord whenever we insist on our way instead of God’s way. They cost us much blood, sweat, toil, and tears. Many have sharp thorns which rip at our flesh. Others are poisonous and cause rashes that can be spread to others. They cause much pain and require much sweat to eradicate. They remind us of God’s divine jurisprudence. We reap what we sow.
If weeds warn us and remind us of the consequences of sin, then they serve a very useful purpose. Maybe that is why the Lord said that the ground would produce them FOR US. God is always redemptive in His purposes and dealings with His children. satan, on the other hand, means to destroy us…. to completely choke the life out of our hearts with the weeds of sin.
I am sure you have heard the quote that says: “The only thing that will cause evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” The same is true for growing weeds. Become apathetic with your lawn and you will have a healthy crop of weeds…. not much grass and flowers, but an abundance of weeds.
I tilled up a stretch of ground beside our driveway a month ago. We planned to put some shrubs there, but we have not gotten around to it. Now, all we have is a variety of weeds growing there. No grass. Nothing but weeds. My point is this: If we sit on our blessed assurance and do nothing, weeds will take over. Sin, apathy, and disobedience will take over the garden of our hearts if we do not do something about it.
Weeds must be killed at the root. We can’t just cut off the tops. They will be back in a few days. So must sin be killed at the root… at its cause. If not, that sin will keep cropping up and causing us trouble. Round-Up is a weed killer. It kills the root of weeds. The Blood of Jesus is a killer. It kills sin. However, if I forget that it is His blood that flows through my veins and has eradicated my sins, then weeds will germinate in my soul, and its consequences with spring up to trouble me even though He has forgiven every one of them.
Once we have been freed from sin, we must plant the rich seed of the Word of God. A good healthy stand of the Word in our lives will crowd out the weeds of sin. Don’t spare the Seed. Lay it on thick. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16).
Weeds remind us of one more thing… God’s abundant grace and mercy. Weeds have some of the most beautiful flowers. I believe God is telling us that even the weeds of sins have a redemptive purpose. The song says: “Something beautiful. Something good. All my confusion, He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife (weeds), but He made something beautiful of my life.” When God comes and weeds out your life and plants the richness of His life in you, you will be a garden of renewal and refreshing for others who are choking to death in the weed-bed of tribulation and suffering.
Isn’t He a great God? May your life today be a garden of grace for all to see. And don’t forget to thank Him when you see that flowering weed beside the road. He put there just FOR YOU! You know you are His favorite, don’t you?
Blessings,
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