Sure, weeds are obnoxious. Yes, you have to combat them for your garden to not be overgrown with them instead of vegetables. Basic gardening one-oh-one.
You may spend hours pulling them from your garden beds on a Sunday afternoon and look out your window Tuesday and already see the thorny knights of the garden poking their heads up through the ground. After you did all that work! How dare they. Good golly how similar that is to my habitual sins. I recognized my sin. I asked God to forgive me. I asked him to help me overcome it. And just like those thorny garden knights, here it comes…my gluttony or my pride. Or my impatience. My self-righteousness!
Jesus’ redemption has covered it all. However, if I am to become more like Him, then work must be done. Why does this situation trigger the emotion to eat something? How were my actions prideful? Why do I default to such frustration with this child? It takes a daily working out and striving to pull the weeds of my sin out of my life and grow closer to being like the person of Jesus. Praise God he is patient and kind to me.
Psalms 119:133 (NIV)
“Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.”
If we don’t take care of the weeds in the garden, they will grow much faster than the veggies and eventually overtake them. Those nasty weeds will be bigger, stronger, faster than the veggies. All of a sudden, they are taking all the sun’s warm rays or their roots are sucking up the water before the veggies get them. The vegetable plants are dwarfed by these thorny giants. Obviously, they may get just enough sun and water to produce. However, with all those weeds in the way they will be so much smaller and produce much less than they would have if the path had been cleared for them to grow and develop.
Just like these dwarf vegetable plants, we can suffer immeasurably from the sins that so easily entangle us. God doesn’t want us tangled in the weeds. He wants us growing strong, soaking in the Son, and refreshing our parched souls with the Holy Spirit. How do we accomplish these things? How do we get rid of the thorny knights that want to take over our lives?
Actionable steps:
Read your Bible.
Seek accountability from trusted friends/mentors.
Pray and ask God to renew your heart and mind.
Run from temptation!