Skip to main content

Of Crabgrass and Pricker Plants


          I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (Prov 24:30-34) 

          I guess I have a green thumb. I’ve had gardens forever it seems. Before I took them over, my parents had gardens. Sometimes we get good crops. Sometimes, we don’t. I can tell you with great confidence that I am an expert gardener when it comes to crab grass, clover, wild strawberries, and pricker plants (whatever they may be correctly named.) 
          Part of the problem is that I’ve been busy. It takes time to take care of Dad. It takes more time to take care of him when he’s in the hospital, and he spent some time there. We had company. I’m trying to revise a novel. I wasn’t going to do anything outside this summer except mow grass and here I am with four beds plus four new bushes and trees to care for. That’s a lot of weeding. 
          My two major nemeses are the crab grass and the pricker plants. I don’t remember exactly when it was, but I started counting them as I pulled them. For a while, I was collecting at least thirty of the little monsters per day. Even gardening gloves don’t protect hands completely. Those prickers are sharp. More than a week ago, I upped my game. I aimed for one hundred per day. This morning, I walked a grid, east and west from the front of the garage to the back fence. I got my hundred, but only by covering about half of the yard. I’m making progress! 
          Of course, when I go out there tomorrow, there will be those that I did not find, and those that have come up since. Still, I’m making progress for one reason. I am going out every day and looking for them.  Even now, if I decide I don’t need to hunt for them anymore, I’m sure in a short time the yard will be filled with them. 
          The same happens with sin and bad habits in our lives. The garden of our spiritual lives needs to be tended constantly.  Some sins, weaknesses , and bad habits are like crab grass. You can see it from across the yard, tall and proud, filling the garden. Others are like the wild strawberries and pricker plants. You have to hunt for them. I suspect I’ve pulled a thousand pricker plants from my yards. Today I worked the back yard like a crime scene, down to the fence, turn and take one step, turn and walk away from the fence. Take one step to the side, turn and walk back down to the fence. Sometimes, you only find them with a bare foot. That’s the way we’re supposed to treat sins in our lives, no matter how pretty they might look.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more