Every time I mow the yard, there they are staring at me. Watching me. I can only assume with a smirk. I can feel it as I pass over them. Weeds!  I hate weeds. I long for that lawn of luscious green grass. When we bought our house and moved in last summer we were already way behind in the ‘get the weeds under control’ war. As Sari and I took walks through the neighborhood, we would look at the lawns we passed and after seeing a few that looked great we noticed what lawn care company truck pulled up and treated the yard.  We made a call and after a few applications we could notice a difference, fewer weeds, thicker, greener grass. And then it happened. After those late summer rains, they began to come out of hiding. Popping their big leafy heads up above the grass. Just a few encampments of some unknown but unwanted foliage in the midst of the grass. And then the untreated weeds in the neighbor’s yard formed an army and were mounting an attack on the western front. We were losing the battle and now as I mowed, they stared, watching me, mocking my efforts. Calls to the specialist for back up went unanswered. I fear the worse in the days ahead!
 
Okay, I get it, it’s just weeds in a yard. But I could just as easily be metaphorically describing our spiritual lives. As unbelievers, we live our lives with no recognition of Christ, no real acknowledgement or even care of the weeds, sins, that our life is producing. At some point, we come to the realization of our sinfulness, accept Christ as our Savior and the Holy Spirit moves in and we begin to notice weeds, sins. Sins that were always there but until now unnoticed or we just didn’t care. We begin treating those sins with confession and repentance and we receive forgiveness. Our life starts to transform, become a beautiful thing. Weeds, sins are replaced with luscious grass, the loving grace of a Savior and the desire to live for him.
 
But then out of nowhere, the weeds, sins, we thought had been eradicated begin to pop up in our life again. Where did that thought come from? Temptations, bad ideas, false teaching that blows in from neighboring podcasts and social media posts. We feel the spiritual growth we had been seeing, the deeper understanding and relationship with Jesus, has taken a hit.  Jesus warns us that this can happen. In Matthew 13 Jesus tells a parable, those stories of everyday happenings that illustrate a point. The Parable of the Sower. This sower went and was spreading seed that he might grow a crop and the seed fell on 4 different kinds of soil: packed, rocky, weedy, and good. And while this parable speaks about a person first hearing the gospel, it is a great illustration of the life of a growing believer.
 
Let’s be honest all of those soils still exist in our life and if we aren’t diligent in the cultivating the soil that makes up our heart and mind, fostering a biblical worldview that allows growth, it is easy for old ways, wrong teaching, bad ideas to blow in and begin to take root, grow and pop up in our lives. And we are all susceptible to weeds, sin popping up. But the diligent disciple, the one who is alert to his heart and mind and what is sown in them, will be intentional in breaking up the packed ground, mindful of the rocks and weeds, cultivating, preparing the soil of our mind to receive the truth of God. Taking those old, hardened parts of our life to God in prayer, keeping them before the Savior is how we break them up. How we cultivate good soil out of packed, rocky, weedy stuff.
 
Do you know where the ideas that are growing in your mind are coming from? What are you doing to break up the hard places? What rocks still exist and need to be confessed, dug up and thrown away?  How do you discern the good seed from the weeds? Someone once told me that the best way to eliminate weeds is to have strong healthy grass. Strong healthy grass chokes out weeds. A steady, healthy application of the gospel, on soil that is cultivated and prepared to receive the truth of God, “this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Take some time this week and ask God to show you the packed, rocky, weedy areas of your life. To fertilize that soil with grace and truth through his Spirit and the Word. And see what begins to grow!

“The battle is real”