Labor Day weekend at our house is always a time to accomplish the work projects: a big cleaning job, the garage, closets or yard work. So the big task seemed appropriate for Labor Day!
My husband decided to cut back the plants, bushes and shrubs that had gotten a bit overgrown over the summer. Then, he decided to trim up the yard and flower garden a bit, and I noticed that the weeds needed attention. This weed called Surge had spread over so much of the yard and proved challenging to control and root out.
I had looked at our backyard and thought, how did it get so bad, so overtaken with weeds so quickly. I was upset and somewhat disgusted! I said to my husband, "Haven't you sprayed a weed killer on these? It's going to take me hours to do all this weeding!"
As I was working diligently out in the yard, in the hot sun, pulling these weeds, I couldn't help but think how much they reminded me of sin. Yes, SIN! I began to ponder how we can ignore something small in our life that isn't right, something that may even appear to be satisfying – at least we tell ourselves it is.
We may even notice these sin areas and shrug them off. We tell ourselves, "They are not so bad!" "I'm no worse than so and so!" Or how about when we blame someone else? "I would never have responded like that if YOU hadn't said or done..." - fill in the blanks with the scenario from your last argument. Remember, I blamed my husband for not spraying the weeds when I knew he had. I saw the weed killer and the sprayer on the back deck. Indeed it wasn't my fault things got out of control!
As a cancer survivor of 19 years, I couldn't help but think that people will take every treatment, do what is necessary, at whatever expense, to eradicate cancer from their bodies. Still, we won't even admit our wrongdoings when it comes to the sin in our lives. An evil that spreads like cancer and is just as deadly. Romans 6:23 tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Do we believe death will be the result of our sin?
Or because we have made Jesus the Lord and Savior of our life, do we take advantage of His gracious gift? In Romans 6:1-2, Paul says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" No, may it never be! But, just like my yard full of weeds, at some point, your sin will be looming large and hit you square in the face. You will have to decide to clean up the mess! It will take hard, laborious work. It may take a lot longer than you think, but it will be worth it. What is the best herbicide to use? It's called confession! 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Sin is plural! Sin always multiplies.
It took some work, my back was a little sore and my legs felt like I did a squat all day, but it was worth it! I looked over the yard and it was clean, fresh, and beautiful again. So that's what confession will do for you, and me too.
Just like with those weeds, you may have to dig deep, get the whole root of the problem out, confess, repent, ask for forgiveness, work at restoration, and then you will be free of the binding, ugly sin in your life. Galatians 5:13, 16 "For you were called to freedom (sisters); only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." How do I walk by the Spirit? Be in the BRAVE community, join a small group or study, come to the Morning Prayer and allow other women to minister to you.
I hope you take the time to clean up, dig deep, and pull the weeds in your life. Get involved! Then you, too, can experience a beauty that reflects God's glory.
"Help us, O God of our salvation for the glory of Your name; and deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name's sake." Psalms 79:9