When we came to town three years ago in the spring on our house hunting trip we fell in love with this house. At the time nothing was in bloom and I remember thinking how those terraces out front would make a nice place for some perennials. Imagine my surprise when we came back in July to move in and everything was in full bloom. Roses of all colors and sizes and all sorts of flowers I could not identify. I've always been terrible at identifying any kind of plant... well, except poison ivy, but that's a whole different blog. It was beautiful, but out of control. I've learned it takes awhile for things to bloom in the Spring here, but when they do they grow fast and wild.
The next year I was away from March to October hiking the AT, so I didn't even see the garden. Last summer I was gone through the beginning of blooming season and came home at the first of July. By that time the garden had gone wild. I knew I needed to do some weeding and get control, but I really had no idea what was a weed and what was a flower. I did what I thought was a good idea, I asked the experts. The local garden club had a tent set up at the farmers market. I approached a couple of nice ladies, explained my situation... new to the area, unfamiliar with... yadda, yadda, yadda. Their advice was 'if you think it's pretty, keep it'.
Hmmm.... I had plants coming in that I didn't know whether I would like or not when they bloomed. So I just let everything grow and waited to see what happened. Pretty quick I figured out what thistles were and decided I did not like them. There was this one vine that had a lovely white flower, something like a morning glory, but not quite. Before I knew it this vine was climbing up roses, smothering out other plants and flowers. I did more research and learned that it was a bindweed. And it had taken over my garden! I tried and tried to pull it out but by this time it was all over everything. Since it was a vine, I couldn't find where the roots started. I spent an incredible amount of time pulling and yanking the stuff out, but never got ahead of it.
This summer I had my chance to beat it. As soon as plants began popping through the soil I watched closely for the first signs of this horrible weed. When I saw the little things beginning their evil (yes, evil) twinning up out of the ground, I would take a hold of the plant close to the ground and try to pull it out, root and all. Sometimes I would get the root. Sometimes I would break off and I knew I'd have to keep an eye on that area because it would show back up again. I worked diligently... for awhile. Then summer came, backpacking trips, hikes, all the fun stuff that always kills my gardening efforts, and I let the garden slip out of my mind for a couple weeks. When I got back to it, sure enough, there it was working it's way up the other plants. My early efforts had helped some, but still, this plant is relentless. I can't drop my guard at all.
One morning I was plucking away and it hit me how much this plant is like life. When a sin takes over our lives it takes diligence, real determination to keep it weeded out. When I first was researching what was okay to be in my garden the advice I got was really very flippant 'if it's pretty, keep it'. Lots of sins are pretty... at first. That is how we get drawn in to them after all. But before we know it they're out of control, twisting up the rest of our lives, taking over.
First lesson I see here is to be careful from whom you get advice.. Those ladies at the garden club hadn't even seen my garden. I'm sure they were just trying to be helpful, but they didn't really know anything about the garden they were giving advice for. I would have done better getting a really good gardening book. There are all sorts of people out there ready to give great life advice, but you might do better to go to a really good book about life... or maybe go to the Author of the Book. He's really the only one who can tell you how to recognize and get rid of that weed... or sin.
I know this well. A few weeks ago I finished a Bible Study with friends. I put down my bible and haven't cracked it open since. Prayer... right, maybe to find my lost keys. And my life, slowly winding out of control. For me it's relationships. Ordinary relationships that usually are very good, healthy, God honoring relationships, but slowly sin begins to work it's way into them. Gossip, irritation with others, conversations that aren't giving grace to anyone. It takes diligence, picking them out by the roots, examining closely the direction each relationship has taken. Going back to my Bible and spending time with God and getting direction from the one who really knows my life and knows what needs to be weeded out.
My garden is clearly no where near perfect yet, but there are some gorgeous flowers blooming. My life is even farther from perfect, but every now and then I get a little glimpse of what maybe God is working toward in me. And I think it's going to be pretty awesome when He's done.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Ephesians 5:8 - 11
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