Weeds. Honestly, I loathe them. They are a nuisance to my lawn and I spend far too many hours attempting to eradicate them altogether. It seems every year I am battling crabgrass and clover on my property despite my DIY efforts to administer weed control and prevention throughout the season. However, what I have learned over the years is that managing weeds is a test in patience, consistency and determination, yet there are many lessons from God's creation that can teach us incredible wisdom if we consider them from a spiritual angle. For example, "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest" (Proverbs 6:6–8). In my personal opinion, weeds are a powerful reminder of our fragile humanity within the lens of God's sovereignty. When I think of weeds, temptation immediately comes to mind because its purpose is to ruin or choke the life out of my lawn by preying upon weak, thin, and under-nourished soil. How prophetic of my life! When I'm busy, tired or simply too lazy to prioritize quality time with the Lord, my spiritual health suffers and I am prone to fall victim to the enemy's schemes. I am also reminded that it is far too easy for sin to increasingly manifest itself in my attitudes and behavior just like weeds in my lawn, because I am not bathing my mind in the absolute truth of Scripture which guards my decision-making and guides my path.
It is amazing to recognize the correlation between the predominate weeds I face and how they relate to my faith walk. For instance, crabgrass has been my nemesis this summer, which is an annual weed that germinates in the spring and spreads like wildfire in the summer, producing infinite amounts of seeds which lie dormant till the following year. What makes crabgrass so dangerous to a lawn is that it preys upon weak and malnourished soil by spreading out its reach in all directions and covering anything in its path. Literally, crabgrass chokes out healthy grass by blocking it from receiving the nutrients it needs to thrive and grow, thus cannibalizing its life. From a spiritual perspective, crabgrass is a perfect example of temptation. It lingers dormant within the soil of our faith until we are overwhelmed by seasons of growth (spring) and trial (summer). More importantly, it preys upon the malnourished areas of our spiritual disciplines where we have become either too busy or lazy in prioritizing daily Bible study and prayer. Without proper nourishment, our defense from spiritual warfare becomes weak at best and we are prone to allow sin numerous paths of opportunity to break down and infiltrate our hearts and minds. That is why Scripture teaches, "For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:13–14).
My other nemesis this summer has been clover, which in many ways appears harmless. It's more of a nuisance kind of weed because it sticks out like a sore thumb in a path of healthy grass. Clover is a perennial weed which returns every year and is self-sufficient by providing its own nutrients in order to thrive in a malnourished environment. What makes clover unique is that it grows like a vine beneath the soil's surface as it stretches out in all directions and sprouts its leaves up from the soil. In other words, when I begin to pull clover up by its root, an extensive vine system can be found growing between the roots of healthy grass and essentially coexisting together. Again, it is fairly easy to consider the spiritual implications of clover in my life because even though I am a born-again follower of Jesus Christ, my selfish flesh seeks to undermine the righteous works of the Spirit in my heart. Therefore, sin and righteousness coexist together in the root system of my heart until I am willing to identify the vines of temptation in my thoughts, attitudes and actions, and eliminate sin at its root. It is a powerful reminder when I dig into the soil and uproot clover as to how pervasive the vine system truly is beneath the surface. In actuality, it is much more far-reaching than I ever could have imagined and a sobering reminder that sin affects more areas of my life than I realize. "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 1:14–15).
Consequently, I find it is far too easy to rely on knowledge of what I vaguely remember from the Bible rather than continually renewing my mind with what God's Word actually says by intentionally reading it each day. Because when I fail to remember EXACTLY what God did say in His Word, I fall victim to the same deceitful question, "Did God actually say?" (Genesis 3:1), that the serpent tempted Eve to believe in the Garden of Eden. Bottom-line: It is easy to use the excuse of busyness to justify my behavior, but rarely can I actually say I have NO TIME to read my Bible. In fact, technology allows me the luxury of listening to Scripture read audibly and smartphone apps provide daily encouragements to attract my attention to meditate on absolute truth, so why am I so prone to laziness by ignoring and/or not utilizing these resources altogether? Scripture clearly warns, "The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing" (Proverbs 20:4). Dare I say that tempestuous weeds have "stolen my joy" by stifling my attention with anything and everything except God? If I'm honest with myself, it's no one's fault but my own for providing Satan ample opportunity to establish a stronghold of distractions in my heart and mind, manifested predominately through negative attitudes, pride and selfishness. In other words, by not washing my mind with the water of God's Holy Word, I have become indifferent toward sin at times because its consequences are either minimized or justified in my mind. Or to put it another way, in my arrogance I believe I am strong enough in my own power to live unto righteousness without having to sacrifice my time and truly, my PRIDE, to rely on the Bible and/or prayer for my wisdom and strength. Therefore, I live my life in a disillusionment of my own creation, substituting the unquenchable power of God's absolute truth for an egocentric, pliable version of relative truth which I can manipulate however I choose to justify my thoughts and actions.
Jesus said, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell" (Matthew 5:29–30). The truth of the matter is that in order to eliminate crabgrass or clover that has already established itself, I must be willing to get my hands dirty and manually labor by pulling it up by its root. If you drive by my house on any given Saturday, you will likely find me on my hands and knees individually pulling weeds up by their roots for hours and hours. It's insanity, I know! Even my next door neighbor thinks I'm crazy for doing it because he said so himself! Why? Because it is a dirty and exhausting process, but absolutely necessary if I truly want to fix the problem and address the true source of my affliction at its core. Make no mistake, there are "easier" methods to my madness by chemically treating my lawn with weed killers or outright hiring a professional company to manage my lawn, but aren't we all at some point more than willing to take the easier way out rather than deal with our problems the "old fashioned way" by the sweat of our brow? Make no mistake, the temptation to give up and allow the crabgrass and clover to take over my lawn is much easier when my knees, back and hands are sore from hours of manual labor in the hot sun. However, each time I pull a piece of crabgrass or clover up by its root, God begins to reveal the beauty of what lies underneath. For it is a picture of grace when we can discover the treasure He has in store for us, when we are willing to resist temptation by actively seeking His righteousness for our lives.
Whether crabgrass or clover, it is entirely possible to allow weeds free reign in my yard and no one would know the difference when I mow my lawn. For many of us, our lawns are already strongholds of crabgrass and clover, and we are content to leave them that way because even weeds can disguise themselves as a healthy lawn when maintained and manicured. It is the same with relative truth emulating absolute truth. Yet the fact remains that weeds have the ability to mask themselves, and we are wise to consider how we allow sin to disguise itself as acceptable in our lives. I can honestly say that while cumbersome and irritating, pulling weeds reminds me that in order to change sinful tendencies in my life, I must be willing to humble myself and invest the time, energy and resources needed to pull them up by their roots. For in doing so, I allow God the opportunity to bless the fruits of my labor if He so chooses, which does not constitute that His grace is dependent or contingent on my works. Rather, it means that in thanksgiving for all He has provided, it is my honor and duty to maintain and care for all He has entrusted to me. Therefore, it is not a chore but a privilege to pull weeds and humble myself in order to expose the beauty of God's grace—both figuratively and literally—and that is the power of God's wisdom manifested throughout creation, even in nuisance weeds! "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).
