The gardener’s nightmare!
On Sunday morning our Bible class got sidetracked and began talking about weeds. And how you nurture your plants and take care of them, yet they struggle, but the weeds flourish overnight. One of the people in attendance that morning was lamenting the fact that no matter what they do the weeds come, and do so much better than their plants. “Why, she ask, where do they come from?” Well, we know where they didn’t come from, they didn’t come from the Garden of Eden directly, but the sin from the garden is the cause of the noxious weeds.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Today I was cleaning out flowerbeds, (they used to be flowerbeds), and pulling the crab grass and weeds was one of the most frustrating jobs I had to do. The crab grass roots go down so deep and run in all directions. The weeds seem to flourish wherever they land and suck up all the water available in the flower bed, starving the pretty flowers for water. I only weeded three flowerbeds, but I have a plethora of noxious fodder to get rid of. You have to be careful getting rid of crab grass and weeds because they will grow no matter where you put them. About the only way to get rid of them is to burn them.
There is a parable in the Bible about a man who sowed a field of wheat. An enemy snuck in at night and sowed tares in the freshly planted field. When the crop came up it was discovered what the enemy had done, and the servant had asked if they should pull up the tares. The owner of the field said no, you might damage the wheat, so we will wait until harvest, then gather the tares bind them, and burn them, and put the wheat into the barn. This parable was meant to teach the disciples that Jesus Christ is the one that sows the good seed, the field is the world, the wheat are the children of God, and the tares are the people who will not believe.
Our life is like the field of the world, all prepped and ready to receive the good seed, which is the Word of God. The tares are sins that infest our lives. Some weeds disguise themselves with pretty little flowers, and try to entice you to let them stay in the flower bed, but it’s a lie that is meant for you to let your guard down, because the weed will infest and destroy the garden. One weed, if it’s taken care of right away, does not affect the whole crop. It is when you let one weed after another infiltrate the crop, that the crop may wither and die for lack of nourishment, which is stolen by the weeds. The best way to fight weeds, is to use the weed killer, which is the Word of God. Another way is: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the best herbicide I know of, and it should be used every day along with reading the Word of God.
As parents we know that children will learn bad things twice as fast as they will learn good things. If you don’t believe that send a five-year-old to school and see what they come home with, it will amaze you. This is why it is imperative for you to stay in the Word of God with your child. It will guard them against the thorns, weeds, and tares, which life will try to sow in their good soil.
We as authors can have our writings go awry and end up like a weed patch, more bad content than good. Upon completion of our work we do what is called an edit, that is when we bind up the tares and burn them, and leave what’s good. We should do the same in our daily life, binding up our sins so what is good can thrive.
I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
Proverbs 24:30-32
When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
Psalms 92:7
“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. “Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.
Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8:5-8 8: 11-15
For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Luke 6:44