Saving the Weeds

It is true to say that gardening is very popular in the United Kingdom. You just have to consider the popularity of the Chelsea Garden Show or see the wide range of gardening programs on TV like Ground Force to agree. People in the United Kingdom are generally very proud of their gardens. Some even indulge in a bit of competition with their neighbours for the best gardens. Some areas even promote gardening endeavours by offering prizes for the best gardens. Gardeners in the United Kingdom spend incredible amounts of money each year on garden products, plants, fertilizers and garden ornaments. Many gardeners spend hours in their gardens, nurturing their seedlings and plants. Fussing over their shrubs, watering, fertilizing. Gardening is rewarding if the result of all the hard work is a neat, attractive and landscaped garden. Every gardener agrees that gardening is a very enjoyable and rewarding past time. I am positive that all gardeners have one thing in common, only one chore that all gardeners do not enjoy - WEEDING THE GARDEN!!

It is also true that some gardeners have trouble identifying weeds from good plants. My wife Debbie would fall into this category. She is a casual gardener, and often makes the mistake of uprooting good plants when attempting to weed our gardens. As a keen gardener, I've always wondered why weeds thrive and grow so well. Flowers and shrubs need so much attention and nurturing - it's a pity this is not reversed, where weeds had a hard time germinating and growing. Many gardeners struggle to remove some deep-rooted stubborn weeds. I also recall that the growth of weeds was a part of the curse God cast on the earth when sin entered the world. Let us look at the curse recorded in Genesis. A 3 part curse was cast by God in Genesis 3:13-19 God pronounced separate curses for the serpent, the woman and the man. I often see weeds and thorns as a stark reminder of sin - just like a rainbow is a reminder of the promise God made after the flood. What were the results of this curse? Well, most people don't like snakes, women go through terrible pain when giving birth and the ground produces (almost by magic) abundant thorns, thistles and weeds. 

Jesus used many parables relating to seeds, land and crops (wheat & corn) in his teachings - people in Biblical days could relate to these parables. They worked the land and relied on crops for their livelihood. We can see the devastation caused by the famine during the time of Joseph. We read how his family had to move to Egypt to avoid starvation. Today, most people have jobs like Programmers, Consultants, Managers, Scientists, Secretaries, etc. Back then, most people held jobs like wheat farmer, herdsman, shepherd, etc.   Read the parable of Jesus in Matthew 13:24-30 And Jesus provides the answer to this parable in Matthew 13:36-43 Let us look at the lessons we can draw from this parable. Jesus relates the following truths in this parable:

Weeds have no use whatsoever, in Biblical times or now - they choke the good plants and use up nutrients in the soil. Weeds are only fit to be thrown into the fire. So why does God allow the weeds of evil to flourish? Why does he not destroy or remove them now?

BECAUSE WE ALL WERE WEEDS AT ONE TIME!!!

Instead, he allows both good and evil to remain on the earth until Jesus returns, in the hope that many more of the weeds will become his people. In the natural world, you cannot change a weed into a useful plant or flower. It is doomed to remain a weed. In the spiritual world, you can change from a weed into something useful and beautiful to God. Because Jesus made it possible to change when he died for the sins of the world.   YOU CAN GO FROM A SINNER TO A WINNER!   A substitution occurred when you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour. When Jesus hung on the cross and died: HE BECAME THE WEED (THE CURSE OF SIN) IN YOUR PLACE AND YOU BECAME GOD'S SONS AND DAUGHTERS. Jesus came to earth as God's Chief Gardener. He came to root out sin and evil. When we accept Jesus as Lord, we also become God's spiritual gardeners in this world.  

Instead of blindly pulling up the spiritual weeds by the root and destroying them, we have been tasked with helping God to convert the spiritual weeds into good, useful plants that God can use. How do we do this? By using the gardening tools God has given us:

We just have to look around to understand that there are still many weeds in God's garden of creation. There are many weeds "in our neck of the woods", in the areas we live in, work and play. We are God's gardeners in our specific corners of God's creation - we must cultivate God's kingdom wherever we are.   Just like weeds threaten to choke the good plants, Christians are in danger of being choked if the weeds are allowed to continue to flourish as weeds.   BEFORE GOD SENDS HIS HARVESTERS TO BRING IN THE HARVEST AND TO SEPARATE THE WEEDS FROM THE PLANTS, LET US MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO HELP TO CONVERT AS MANY WEEDS INTO GOOD PLANTS AS WE CAN BEFORE THEY ARRIVE.   What will happen if we don't? The weeds will be burned up in unquenchable fire. The key difference is that the spiritual weeds will never burn away. They will continue to burn and fuel the fires of hell forever. I do not wish hell on my worse enemy. There is no fate worse than hell. I don't want the weeds to go there - YOU don't want to weeds to go there and if they truly understood their predicament, THEY don't really want to go there. LET'S MAKE SURE THAT AS FEW AS POSSIBLE GET TO GO THERE!! So let us prepare the harvest for God's harvesters - let us work hard now and forget our human comforts!   If we do forget about the weeds, they will grow and enjoy the earthly sunshine and pleasures for a while. BUT JUST LIKE EARTHLY WEEDS, THEY WILL BE PULLED OUT BY THE ROOTS AND BE HURLED INTO THE FIRE. 

So while we are here, in these human bodies, living in a human world and facing temptations and sin every day while we live among the weeds - we must work hard at saving the weeds - we must not to forget about the plight of the weeds out there. There will be time enough for resting and comfort in Heaven. There will be time enough in Heaven to forget about the weeds. When we live with Jesus and worship God the Father eternally in Heaven in the communion of the saints, we can then forget about weeds and remember them no more.

If you would like to discuss this article feel free to contact the Weston Favell Church of Christ Northampton via our contact us page