P u l l i n g W e e d s

No, it couldn't be! My beautiful bermuda grass coming up in my hand with a nasty clump of weeds. I laid the sod myself last year. The nerve of those weeds to attack my beautiful (once beautiful), pristine sod. However, that's what weeds do----infiltrate, invade, and infest the good stuff.

Most of us have weeds though. I'm not talking about just in our grass---but in our lives. Weeds of the spirit, emotions, and mind do the same things as those nasty gaggles of unwanted
greenery in our grass. Especially in the setting of our inner man, their presence is magnified as they cramp, choke, and congest the work the Holy Spirit seeks to do within us. The Holy Spirit, who took the form of a dove at the baptism of Jesus, non-aggressive and un-invading, will only do as much in our lives as we allow.

Now, I'm not saying pulling weeds is an art form, but, there is a way to do it and not to do it. If I just reached down, grabbed, and pulled, I would always end up with as much grass as weed and a big, ugly, bare spot. When we pull weeds ourselves, we usually end up treating symptons and not getting to the root of a problem. However, if I went down to the base of the cluster and pulled by the roots, the whole thing would come up with less grass leaving a smaller, sometimes almost unnoticeable bare spot. This is how the Holy Spirit seeks to work within us. The Spirit doesn't move in and try to clear house all at one 'wholesale whack' leaving us spiritually rumpled, razed and routed. Many people have misinterpreted growth with the excisement of bad habits, thoughts, and feelings and, on their own, tried to 'deliver' themself from their problems. This is focusing on the wrong thing. Although, many of these same people are well-intentioned, this negative approach is actually a characteristic of 'anti-Christ' and 'other-than Christ' religions, cults, and religious legalism. When one allows the focus to be on growth by the Holy Spirit, the negative traits will have to go as the Spirit takes precedence. This is growth. This is progress. This is the work of the Holy Spirit----the best weed-killer in the business----killing weeds at the roots and not just treating symptoms. God wants to eliminate the weed by the root, getting rid of the entire problem and not hurting the integrity of the surrounding area.

Most of us know what some of our own weeds are, but it takes the illuminating eye of the Holy Spirit to expose the darker corners that we cannot so easily detect. I noticed, as I was pulling weeds out of my grass, that there were several kinds of weeds. One kind was not so easily spotted. It was a low-lying, low-growing weed with spreading tentacle-like arms reaching out in all directions never growing up but low and out making it hard to see at first. However, once exposed, it actually pulled out easily. Many people do not take on the problem of weeding their own yard ( heart). Many people let the weeds exist with the grass trying to just keep it all 'mowed' down where its not too evident. That, obviously, doesn't take care of the problem and, moreover, can cause slow growth, if any at all, and possibly stagnancy. Stagnancy inevitably leads to disappointment, discouragement, and apathy. To truly help God help you, you must be willing to expose the weed (bring it to God) and be willing and yielded. This may not (and probably won't) happen overnight. The key is to stay attentive and diligent and keep the water and light of God's word shed abroad in the area. I noticed, in one area of my yard, that the whole reason I had to sod to begin with was because much of the old grass had died out and left nothing but these huge, mostly dirt patches. This was due to the fact that they were in almost continuous shade not receiving ample light to grow full, healthy grass. After cutting down some unnecessary trees and pruning others, I now have green grass and a yard that isn't a choking dust bowl nuisance when I mow it. Light is important. The word of God is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path.

It always happens. You probably have one too. I'm talking about that neighbor that always knows a little more than you do. Just before I ordered the sod, I told a neighbor I was thinking about putting down bermuda. "Yeah", he said, "it looks nice but its just so susceptible to weeds in this area." Well, it pays to take good advice---but that's another topic--maybe the parable of the sower?