Trouble with WEEDS!

I walked through my back yard a few days ago and thought to myself, as I often have, why are the weeds growing so well when it's hot and dry, but nothing else is?  It seems that weeds flourish when the rest of yard is suffering terribly from heat and drought.  Since entering the heat wave of 2011, I dread the thought of mowing or tending to the yard, or even being outside for that matter. With the sight of the weeds standing so tall and proud in my back yard, I started think about how, even in my life, it seems that the weeds always grow so much better than the fruit, especially when I let my spirit become dry and thirsty.

It takes some tending to grow spiritual fruit., just like it takes some tending to keep the weeds away.  Paul wrote that the things he should do, he didn't do.  And the things he didn't want to do were always present with him, even though he hated them. (Romans 7)  After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, one of the curses they now had to endure was...you got it...WEEDS! (Genesis 3: 17-19) And just as the weeds grow so rapidly, with no tending, and no water, we can become overwhelmed by weeds that destroy our joy, peace and even our very walk with God.  Jesus spoke about the seeds that were planted among thorns (or weeds) that grew up and choked the tender plants.  He told of a farmer who planted seed and an enemy came and sowed weeds among his crop.  (Matthew 13) 

Our enemy is walking about, seeking whom he may devour.  To be sure we aren't devoured, we must tend to our spiritual back yards.  I've heard the saying, "not in my back yard"!  As Christians, we often have to take a stand and resist the devil, so that the weeds of discouragement, bitterness, doubt and unforgiveness, to name a few, do not overtake us.  The best way to destroy the weeds is to be cleansed and renewed with the water of The Word....the Living Water.  Oh how refreshing it is when rain finally comes after a long, hot, dry spell and the same is true when we dive in to the Word of God for a time of refreshing and renewal. 

Lord, help me to be good ground for your work, your word and a bearer of good fruit!
  

Matthew 13:22-23 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”