Weeds are nasty things! They sting your fingers when you try to pull them out. They push perennials out of the way. They creep and crawl under and above the ground rising to the surface far from their point of origin. But weeds can be pretty things! Flowers are yellow, purple and pink. Leaves are lacy. Stems are straight and tall. They are impostors.

How do we tell the difference between a weed and a cultivated plant? How do we know what to uproot and what to nourish? They look similar as they push through the soil in the spring. Are they growing too fast? Are they growing where they are not wanted? Those are some clues!

Amongst the beauty in our lives there are weeds.

They are colourful and initially they even look good. Allowed to grow they gradually take the place of the beauty. Trying to get rid of them is painful and is not easily accomplished. They sting and hurt as the uprooting process takes place and sometimes the whole endeavour seems futile because they keep growing back.

What weed will you identify and uproot in your life? Will you persevere when it tries to grow back? What things push the beauty from your life? What things look good but over the long term are life-sapping, even life-destroying? Is it unforgiveness that burrows under relationships, rising to the surface far from the point of origin? It is life choices that draw you away from God and His Word? What is the “impostor,” that weed in your life?

The psalmist prayed that God would create a clean heart in him and renew a right Spirit within him. Will you pray with me . . . that God will reveal those weeds that need to be ruthlessly yanked out of our lives? And then, let’s ask Him to plant His beauty in those places that are now available.

“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.” Psalm 139:23-24 

By Cheryl Hughes, Lorne Park Baptist Church