Groan...
Plus, it's going to mess up my nails, which are actually looking quite long and healthy right now. Weeding will break them, and make them dirty.
Sigh...
I will probably bite the bullet next week and get the beds all cleaned out and weed free. Because weeding really is important for plant productivity.
Weeds steal sunshine, soil nutrients, and precious rain from the real plants-the vegetables and the flowers.
We weed for productivity. We weed in order for our plants to grow unhindered, in the best possible circumstances, so they will bear a bumper crop.
Weeding reminds me of the Christian life. We often refer to confession and repentance as weeding out sin. It's a good term. Accurately descriptive of the process.
The purpose of confessing and forsaking sin in our lives is to produce more fruit. We get rid of the sin so it doesn't have a foothold to choke out the good seeds and plants and fruit in our lives.
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the word; and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. (Matthew 13:22)
Sometimes we forget why we are rooting out sin-in our lives and in other people's lives. We get a bit enthusiastic and occasionally vindictive. We lean towards punishment and revenge rather than repentance and restoration.
We get a little ruthless, pulling up the good plants, and not just the weeds. We wreck the person instead of focusing on dealing with the sin. We take it all down to the bare dirt, pulling out the good, the bad, and the ugly. In our thoroughness, we'd rather see the sinner withering, than restored and productive.
Sometimes we neglect the weeds, in our careless uprooting of the plants.
We hate the sin. We are hateful to the sinner.
We forget that God hates sin, but He loves sinners. We forget that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
We forget a basic farming principle.
Pull up the weeds so the plants will flourish and bear fruit.
The purpose of weeding is not to pull up the plants. It's to get out the junk, the hinderances, the sappers, the weeds, so the plants can flourish and reach their full potential.
Weeding is necessary, but it must be done properly. Care must be taken. The plants must be preserved, the weeds must be destroyed.
Is there any weeding that needs to happen in your life?
