This week I have been doing a lot of work outside in the yard. I enjoyed it for the first 2 days, but after this last day, I believe I've had my fill for a little while!
While I was hunkered down pulling up the weeds and grass growing around some of my plants and bushes outside, I starting thinking, and for a blonde, well, that can be dangerous. :)
Some of the weeds and grass were growing around my plants (hydrangeas mainly) and some even had blades of grass poking out of the middle of the plant. Some of those weeds and grass blades/roots were easily pulled from the ground, and others were very hard to pull out. For those hard-to-pull-out bunches of grass, I just pulled the blades off (mostly by accident) because the grass's rots were already well established.
I was angry at myself for letting these plants go and not paying them any attention until now. It was hard work bent over pulling those weeds and grass from the ground. It wore me out; I realized I might need some weed killer too because some of that grass wasn't coming out in my own strength.
My beautiful plants could have been overtaken by these weeds and withered away had I not paid them any attention. If they had not been overtaken, then their true beauty would have been camoflauged so much that maybe they would not have even bloomed or bore any fruit.
You who are saved already know what I am alluding too. I got to thinking about how those weeds and grass are like sin in our lives or just un-Godly habits that we allow to become a part of our every day life. If we let sins fester in our lives or pick up habits that keep us away from God and church and fulfilling our ultimate (and only) purpose as Christians, then we are going to have some hard work ahead of us to get back to where we need to be.
The devil loves to plant weeds in our lives. He loves to introduce us to things that seemingly look more appealing to us than what God has to offer. This is a trap! These sins and habits will eventually overtake us and hide our potential and true beauty we have in Christ if we let them. Sometimes, if the Holy Spirit convicts you about something and you actually heed to it, you will repent quickly. That's like those weeds that are easily removed from the ground of your heart.
But, if there are sins and/or un-Godly habits that are continual in your life, and you do nothing about them, those things become well-established in your life. If God finally makes you realize you need to stop doing these things, you may try to fix the problem yourself, but that's like pulling those blades of grass off the tops of those well-established root balls of grass. You can't do it in your own strength. You can try to remove it yourself, but you need help. That help is God. He can come along and extinguish those sins and help you overcome those bad habits. If we aren't careful, we can all get these types of weeds and grass growing in our lives and hearts! I know I have!
So, take some time to pray each day. We need to confess of our sins as soon as the Holy Spirit convicts us that we are doing something wrong or have done something wrong. We need to make sure we do not have any other gods before our true God and that all of our habits are only leading us closer to Him! Habits such as praying daily and reading your Bible daily are great habits to have. Not all habits are bad!
We need to call on God for His forgiveness and for His help of helping us overcome any bad habits we have started. His power is the best "weed killer" I know, and His mercy endures forever!
Next time, I'll write about mildew if I have time. The Lord's really been speaking to me through my hard work outdoor this week! :)
