by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Pulling weeds can be a lot like removing sin.

Several days ago I lamented about the dreary weather we experienced throughout the first month of 2015. Today, however, the sun did indeed come out again! And with it, I was outside by 9 am determined to tackle some of the weeds in the patch of earth by our back fence.

This is the same area of real estate I commit to clearing up each year. Something I’ve noticed is, I never quite get the whole fence row looking as it should. More often than not I give up one third of the way through. And mind you, our yard is not large. I just get tired and quit worrying with the weeds.

I pull those pesky weeds, lay a “weed resistant” blanket over the dirt, and cover that with mulch.

Last year I discovered the squirrels had dug up the weed blanket and carried it off to their nests. Hope it met their needs.

Because of all the rain we’ve had recently, pulling the weeds was easy-peasy. An unexpected answer. Thank you, Jesus.

As I pulled I thought…

• If we don’t dig out the root of sin, it will just pop right back
• If I don’t get the whole root, the weed will just come right back
• Some of the weeds sneaked under the fence from the neighbor’s yard
• If we aren’t careful our neighbors’ sins can become our own
• Getting rid of weeds is a lot easier if done when they are small
• Getting rid of sin is the same thing

• Those weeds I didn’t get rid of last year had time to grow and become tougher to remove
• The sins we don’t deal with when we first notice them will be more difficult to remove the longer we allow them to take up residence

• Weeds with shallow roots weren’t hard to remove
• Sins we haven’t allowed to get deep into our soul are easier to remove

• Although the weed resistant blanket doesn’t keep all the weeds out, it helps
• We need a barrier between us and those habits that can turn into sins

• All the weeds may not get removed in one day
• Our sins probably will not magically disappear the first time we try to remove them

• When removing weeds, care must be taken to keep the healthy plants intact
• Ruthless efforts to remove sin may cause damage

• Pulling weeds and taking steps to keep them from returning is a lot of work…I’ll probably enlist help to complete the job
• Getting rid of our sins is work…we need to enlist help from Jesus, the one who paid the price so our sins could be rooted out and removed forever

Got a garden full of weeds in your life? What steps are you taking to get rid of them? Maybe the first step is admitting there are weeds in our garden and determining to do something about them.

Leave your comments below to share your thoughts on the subject. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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