July 19 (Matthew 13:27)
And the servants of the master of the
house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ (ESV)
Our neighbors on
either side of us are retired and keep immaculate lawns. At this point, a weed would not so much as dare to
grow in their yards. At our house, weeds
feel more comfortable. In fact, they
seem to invite their friends. They
undoubtedly feel welcome because we are not diligent about getting rid of them,
spraying against them, and applying the proper lawn treatments at the right
times of the year.
It had rained
recently, and the soil was soft, so I took the opportunity to attack some of
the weeds, carefully pulling them so they came out root and all. It struck me that they came out much more
easily when the soil was soft. When the
ground is hard, there is simply no pulling out a weed. You can break off the stem, but you cannot
pull out the roots.
The same is true
in our lives. When our hearts become
hard, the habits of sin can take root, and it is difficult to remove them. Our hardness causes us to think that we do not
have a problem and that there is no need to address certain issues. When our hearts are soft, however, we can
more easily get down to the root of sins and habits in order to remove them
completely.
Copyright © 2015 by Steven R. Perkins
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