Clear the Brush and Weeds!

 " I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:

and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,

 that it may bring forth more fruit."

John 15:1-2

At this time of year everyone takes extra effort with their yards and property to clean out the results of a long hard winter. Weeds have grown and are overtaking flower beds and landscaping. You don’t really realize how overgrown they are until you take a close look at how much they have gotten out of control. What starts out as a little sprout and not that noticeable, ends up growing large and quickly chokes out the good plants and trees.

“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

2 Corinthians 7:1

As many of you know we live in the woods, and we often have to fight this battle. This past week we had someone come in and take down the dead trees and all the underbrush that have grown and taken over. Because I have a front row seat sitting on my back porch, I was able to see the transformation. Little by little they started pulling out the underbrush that was just wildly growing and encompassing everything. Then they took down some dead trees that had fallen in the last year or so. I have been looking at all of that for so long that I didn't even realize how bad things had gotten. But as they began to clear out all the brush and dead trees, I could see fresh new growth and green everywhere. What a difference that made. It lifted my spirits just seeing the old mess and weeds gone and good, healthy trees left to enjoy.

“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;”

Isaiah 1:16

I think every now and then we need to take a good, focused look at our lives and see all the brush and the dead trees that have accumulated. They grow so slowly that we hardly notice their harmful effects. We need to have the brush and weeds of unwanted thoughts, wrong feelings, worry, despair, anger, and sinfulness that have slowly crept in and purge them from our lives. If we don’t, the weeds and brush will take necessary nutrients from the healthy growth. We also need to take down the dead trees that clutter our lives and are taking up space and eventually become a hazard. Then, when we have purged all the weeds in our lives, we need to plant the flowers of happiness, right thoughts, trust, faith and spend more time fellowshipping with the Lord in the beautiful garden.

“And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

Matthew 5:29

We need to be careful when we deal with our sin to deal with the roots. Just cutting them off at the surface will not get rid of them permanently. They will eventually grow back. So, we need to get beneath the surface to the root of it. Jonathan Edwards, a pastor and theologian from the 18th century, said this about dealing with the root of sin in one of his famous     "Resolutions":

“Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.”