Pulling Weeds

These last weeks I have watched our yard come vibrantly to life. The barren brown landscape offered its first hints of color a couple of months ago but held tightly with bated breath. Nature has finally exhaled and brought to life the leaves on our Aspen trees now flickering in the wind, the blossoms on lilac bushes peaking through with clumps of color, and a sprout of what I hope is sage popping out from beneath the faded, old mulch. This beauty should have been enough to force me outdoors to begin the maintenance of such gifts, but it wasn’t. Instead, I watched from my window and enjoyed the view, until one day I looked out and the greenery filling up my space was mean and prickly. Tall weeds had erupted, seemingly overnight, and they dominated my yard. 

This ugliness, not the beauty, finally made me grab my hat, gloves, rake, and weeder and get to work. As I walked through my yard and took stock, the picture that greeted me was far different than what my window provided from its distance. A prickly, painful weed, Canada Thistle, had attacked every part of my yard. Each bed of mulch, grass, ground cover, and rocks was home to one or more sprouts of this ugly weed. I reached down to pull the first one, and as my fingers wrapped around its base, I yelped and recoiled from the stab of tiny spines through the fabric of my glove. Lesson learned, I grabbed my weeding tool and stuck its tip into the dirt beneath the leaves and began to expose the root. The exposure revealed a long, thin root that traveled horizontally to the next sprout of spiney leaves. 

I moved through the yard, tearing up the dirt, following the roots, and doing my best to pull them out. It wasn’t pretty, enjoyable, or fun work. The skin on my shoulders burnt from time in the sun. I alternated between squatting and bending over as I pulled, and both my back and hamstrings ached from the labor. But pain or not this labor was necessary because, without it, the weeds would continue to overtake the yard. Those angry spines were getting ever taller and hurting the beautiful things that belong there.

Sin in my life is like those nasty weeds. When it breaks through the surface and becomes visible, everyone can see it for what it is, ugly, hurtful, and wholly undesirable. When someone calls attention to my sin and its need to be removed, defense mechanisms kick in, pricking anyone that tries to touch it with the spines of denial. But that doesn’t mean I should stop; it means I need to continue the work of exposing the root; I must keep digging out the sin hidden in my heart and mind. Exposing sin in my heart is challenging, but these sins are pervasive and, left untouched, will reach and taint every aspect of my life. 

Maybe you’re like me, and this week you took stock of things happening around you and were forced to consider what that means about things inside you. It’s possible you didn’t love what you found, sin is an ugly thing to confront. Maybe you’ve been pricked by something you’ve heard, seen, or read. Defensive spines of denial might have bristled with comments of, ‘I’m a good person,’ ‘I would never,’ or ‘you don’t know me.’ Or maybe it was easier to avoid those pricks entirely, ignore them because no one wants to get hurt. But those pricks are vital; their pain alerts us because we recognize it as an attempt to protect something that doesn’t belong. 

Friends, we have to do the hard work in ourselves. We can’t back away or recoil because of our defensive spines; we have to dig in. Exposing the root of pride, selfishness, jealousy, anger, and prejudice allows us to attack it from the source. We know from experience that these sins will pop up in every aspect of our lives, hurting relationships in our marriage, parenting, families, friendships, churches, work, and our culture. When the roots grow unchecked, nothing is safe. 

But we are not without hope, and neither is our country. So we start with the source and pray, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:23-24). We allow God to expose the root of our sin, and we commit to digging, we confront the uncomfortable, own up to the shameful, and do the hard work required. He’ll show us where to place our spade, and by his grace, rip the twisting roots of sin from all of the places it tries to hide. God promises his people, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26). His faithfulness combined with our willingness and submission will not allow sin to continue its residence in our hearts, no matter how deeply ingrained it is in our culture. And that God-given change, the evidence of his grace, mercy, and forgiveness, will affect our lives, our families, our friends, and our nation. There’s beauty all around, let’s root out the things in us that are hurting it. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalms 51:10