Summertime is here in full force...it's hot, it's muggy, and things are growing like wildfire. My all-time least favorite chore to do when I was a kid was to weed the garden or grassy areas of our front lawn. I still hate weeding, and more importantly, I HATE WEEDS!!! Why do I hate them so much? Because they have a way of completely taking over EVERYTHING in their path! Not to mention, they are just ugly to look at!
My husband, Scott, was mowing and edging our lawn yesterday, as it was in dire need of some trimming! It's been so hot here of late that the backyard had been neglected for quite some time. In fact, we hardly ever go out there anymore or even look out there. I was surprised to see that in some areas of the backyard, there were weeds as tall as a small tree! No, I'm not kidding! Our backyard looked like a jungle in the making. I did not envy Scott having to go out there and mow it, much less try to pull up all the miscellaneous brush and weeds! He spent hours out there in the hot sun taking care of what had been needing to be done a while ago. Everytime I think about yardwork, I can't help but think about how weeds parallel some things in our lives at times. When you think about it, weeds have really only one purpose...to choke the life out of something that was previously living in its path or place. Not to oversimplify here, but isn't that true for some areas of our lives? As God prunes us to become more like Christ and His image, inevitably, He must pull out all the destructive weeds, as well. Weeds in our lives can take many forms, I'm convinced. Speaking for myself, I know that I have always struggled with keeping my surroundings neat and organized. It's not uncommon for me to have clothes strewn everywhere in my bedroom that I must walk around in order to maneuver. It's kind of like weeds. The problem starts out small and if I nip it in the bud and keep it in check, nothing will get too out of balance and everything is o.k. But, if I get lazy and let those piles of clothes start mounting (as is usually the case), what happens? Slowly but surely, the piles turn into one huge mess that blocks my way of getting around or doing anything in my room. In fact, I often end up tripping over shoes or other items that fell by the wayside amongst the pile of clothes. It makes a simple chore like going to bed or putting other items away in my room that much more of a hassle. It affects my state of mind and I'm convinced, my emotional well-being, too.
I admit, it's a challenge to try and keep everything in our lives balanced and in check before "weeds" take over. As far as I know, that battle will never go away as long as I'm on this earth. Weeds are simply a fact of life. But, I sure hope that one day, in God's new heavenly kingdom, there won't be weeds to choke the life and enjoyment out of everything. Besides, didn't I mention earlier, they're just plain ugly to look at? I can't imagine that there would be weeds in Heaven...what do you think? ;o)
