Dealing with the Weeds in Our Lives  

We recently had a spring work day at our church property where some of our members came together to mow grass, trim bushes, and generally get the grounds looking nicer. One of the main projects involved dealing with a prominent area in front of the building and along the steps where shrubbery grows. It badly needed weeding, along with a fresh covering of pine straw. It always proves to be a constant, difficult job throughout the growing season to remove pesky weeds that keep popping up through the ground-covering in that spot. If left alone, the undesirable vegetation would quickly overrun the whole area. Therefore we decided to take an extra preventative step prior to spreading the pine straw this time by laying down some material underneath which should hinder the growth of weeds. I guess we’ll find out how successful it is as time goes by.

 Do you ever get tired of having to deal with the unwanted outcroppings in your life? You know they don’t belong in the landscape of a believer, but they keep popping up on an all-too-regular basis. It’s not like there aren’t blooming flowers of Christlikeness in your life. Through your faith in the Lord and the presence of the Holy Spirit working in you, you do exhibit some of those good qualities and actions which should characterize a true follower of Jesus. However, the weeds keep coming too – another outburst of temper, more harsh words, giving in to the temptation to lust again, another plunge into worry and hopelessness, another lie, or countless other spiritual intruders. All too often their presence gets in the way, overshadows the godly aspects of your life, and distracts from your mission.

 In one sense, we will always be battling weeds in this life. Satan will try to plant seeds of temptation to hinder us and choke out the fruit of the Spirit springing forth from our relationship with Jesus. We will continually need to “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13) and “put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:8-9). Nevertheless, wouldn’t it be even better to keep the weeds from showing up in the first place? Instead of having to constantly be pulling them up after they’ve burst forth and caused a problem, is there some way to keep so many from taking root and coming to the surface?

   Maybe that’s the problem. We tend to deal with what’s on the surface when we need to look deeper. The Bible indicates that our words and actions spring forth from whatever is going on in our innermost being – in our hearts and minds. The weeds in our lives don’t just pop up out of nowhere. They have often taken root in our desires, our thoughts, and our attitudes. Instead of just pulling weeds, maybe we need to ask our Master Gardener to do some work in the soil of our hearts. He can take away some of those wrong desires that pull us off track, instead instilling in us a greater desire to do what’s right and to please Him. He can give us such love for Himself and for others that it will overshadow our affection for those lesser things that tempt us. He can renew our minds as we focus less on other things and more on Him and His Word.

Don’t just keep pulling weeds. Go deeper. Where is your heart? What do you love most? What are you thinking about? How does your attitude need to change? Let’s allow the Lord to get underneath the surface in our lives and deal with the real issues.