Thinking about weeds

After a long winter break, my yard has begun it's annual rebellion and forced me to break out the lawnmower. I have a decent size yard, but as the temperature rises on me and my push-mower it seems to get bigger every time. During the countless trips up and down my yard, I've had a reoccurring thought this spring: Dandelions.

I'm not a yardwork perfectionist, but I am a big fan of a freshly cut and neat yard. The yard I inherited when I purchased this house I am confident was well taken care of. Even so, here and there - along the edges mostly - dandelions raise their heads in defiance. The kids love them. I mean, what kid doesn't love to grab a handful of ripe white dandelions and blow as hard as they can to see those seeds scatter in the wind? The problem is, and the kids have no way of knowing, that they are only making the problem worse as those seeds dig in their roots wherever it is that they land only to start the cycle over again.

The funny thing is that it took absolutely no effort on my part to get those weeds to grow in my yard. In fact, the only thing that was required of me was to do nothing. On the contrary, I look at all of the desireable things we are wanting to grow in the garden. They require planning and a lot of work from start to finish. Not only do you have to focus on those good things, but you also have to pay attention to the weeds and pests and everything else that would keep these desireable 'fruit' from developing.

I can't help but see the parallels with our struggles with sin. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to get wrapped back up in sin - even those that we thought we had defeated long ago. It may only require us to relax for a moment and not actively fight the 'weeds' from creeping back in. At the same time, I'm always frustrated that it takes so much effort (it seems) for me to stay dedicated to the worthwhile things: quiet times, prayer, etc.

Makes me think of Paul 'fighting the good fight' and 'finishing the race.' (2 Timothy 4:6) After all, no matter how perfect we think we have our yard at any given moment, the yards all around are full of dandelions just waiting to drift back over and take up root again.

-Jeff