Back in May, I posted some thoughts on clearing land: the physical land so we can plant crops and gardens and the clearing of our souls of root sin. I failed to mention in that post that in general I do not like gardening, or really any type of yard work, except for one thing – believe it or not, I like to weed. I enjoy pulling those suckers up from the dirt. It’s especially satisfying a day or two after a good rain.
In the good old days of my youth, my parents forced me to do yard work, including pulling weeds. One thing my dad thumped into my brain was that I shouldn’t just break the weed off at ground level. I needed to pull their roots as well, or they would just come back again. That thought came back to me after reading the Normal Christian Life and True and False Repentance. It occurred to me that despite my confession and remorse over sin, I simply did not have the willpower to stop myself from sinning again.
My spiritual life was like that of the weeds in my garden. By only dealing with my sinful actions, I removed the offense from the surface, but left the root system intact within the soil of my spirit. I needed to get to the roots to deal with my sin nature once and for all.
You can’t leave weeds alone and hope they’ll go away – they have to be dealt with. Beautiful lawns of luxurious grass will soon be merely patches of crab grass if not dealt with. Farm fields left untended will become over run with weeds, to the point they’re unrecognizable as crop land.
Anyone who’s ever pulled weeds knows it easier after rain softens the soil. So is it true for us spiritually. When the rain of the Holy Spirit showers our soul, the roots of sin are so much easier to deal with. When our hearts are hard from a lack of God’s presence, the roots of sin are much harder to get to. We pull on the weed of sin, but find that it root stays in our spirit and we’re left holding just what was on the surface – our behavior. The obvious defect is gone, but it will surely grow again, just give it a little time.
It is through prayer, the Word of God, and worship that the Holy Spirit soaks the soil of our souls so the weeds that are wrecking our lives can be pulled by their roots and be gone for good.
