“put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-23
It has been so dry here in Florida that any plant we desire needs to be watered. Though we DON’T water our lawn! Therefore, I was shocked when a neighbor crossed the road to ask, “what do you put on your lawn to keep it so green?” I didn’t have any answer that could help him because, the truth of the matter is, all I’ve REALLY got…is WEEDS!
When I couldn’t give him an answer, Paul then asked me what KIND of grass I had…Bahia? Augustine? All I could tell him is that I USED to have Augustine, but it had died off years ago. I presumed that what we were looking at was it’s green and thriving murderer! He said I was more lucky than HIM. MY weeds had grown uniformly and taken over the entire yard. I realized, being complimented for something I didn’t even know I had made me feel appreciative…sorta!
It IS true that weeds just seem to grow greener and more prolific than grass. There are lawn service businesses that will come and spray chemicals to remove the weeds. When I called one, the guy shook his head and said, “no can do! If I spray your yard, you’ll have no yard. It’s ALL weeds!” So we decided to just let the weeds be!
I looked up the definition for weeds and grass, and discovered that, “taxonomically, the term weed has no botanical significance.” Yeah?? Well they sure SEEM significant to ME! The best description I found stated that ‘a weed is a plant that is considered undesirable in a particular situation.’ Kind of like what the Bible calls ‘deceitful desires.’
If God could have been advised on His plan, I am SURE humans would have asked to have those sinful desires REMOVED when they got saved. Leaving such a dangerous and unpredictable creeper like ‘the flesh’ to continue on beside ‘The Spirit’ seems so much a waste of space. But God didn’t ASK for advice. Apparently battling weeds is just a necessary part of the process of a Godly life. So suggests today’s verse!
‘Put off’ and ‘put on’ are not suggestive terms, but come as commands. They presume that a ‘corrupted self’ should WANT to be rid of ‘deceitful desires.’ But alas, I have to admit that I have grown partial to some of my weeds. To which the Master of my Heart rings my doorbell and reminds me, “Um…that lawn is no longer yours…it’s MINE! Let’s get to work! And He carries more weight than my neighbor!
What are YOUR weeds?
