One of the things I enjoy in life is working in my flower garden. I guess you could say I got that from my mom. Every day, usually early in the morning or late in the evening mom would work in her flowers. She’d walk around the house looking at every flower, inspecting every leaf and bloom looking for any early signs of trouble.
One thing she couldn’t stand though was a weed. If she saw any in her garden, she wouldn’t wait for it to take good root. She’d take her little spade and attack with a vengeance, like a soldier on a mission rooting out the enemy. Dad on the other hand was just the opposite. He liked the beauty, but didn’t like the duty.
I remember one year when we moved to a new house. The house was a large three bed room home, and had plenty of room to play outside; just what we wanted. There was one problem though; the plants and shrubs around the house were overgrown badly. I knew what our task would be based on the conversation my mom and dad was having; we were going to be on weed detail.
The next morning after eating a good breakfast, we marched out the door to start the arduous task of removing weeds. Mom dispatched each of us kids to different locations to get the job done quicker. Dad on the other hand, stood on the side line and watched while mom and we kids did all the work. He was moms back up for us kids, when she needed us to tighten up and get on the ball.
I was pulling away at the weeds thinking I was doing a good job, when mom came over to inspect. She stopped me and informed me that I needed to pull them up by the roots, otherwise they would come back and make the garden look ugly and she didn’t want that. Well like most kids I responded by saying, “Yes mama,” and continued pulling weeds. What mom didn’t know though was; when I got to one that wouldn’t come out of the ground by the root, I’d just break it off at the ground and cover it up. We finished the yard work by the end of the day and what a transformation.
A couple of weeks later when coming home from school, something didn’t look quite right around the outside of the house. As I entered the house, mom stopped me and asks me to come outside with her. As we walked around the house, she pointed out the weeds that had grown in the flowers. I had been nabbed, the roots that I had left had come back to haunt me. Well, after a long lecture, and a few grueling hours of weed pulling supervised by my mom, I had learned my lesson.
Looking back at those days and even now working in my own flower garden; I can see how roots from weeds left unattended can spring forth and steal the beauty of the flowers. In the word of God we read, “…lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” (Hebrews 12:15b). Therefore as a child of God, we shouldn’t allow the root of bitterness to stay buried in our hearts; it will one day spring forth obscuring the beauty that God has intended for us to be. So take the time and ask God to help you “Dig up the Roots” in your life today.
Louis Edwards
One thing she couldn’t stand though was a weed. If she saw any in her garden, she wouldn’t wait for it to take good root. She’d take her little spade and attack with a vengeance, like a soldier on a mission rooting out the enemy. Dad on the other hand was just the opposite. He liked the beauty, but didn’t like the duty.
I remember one year when we moved to a new house. The house was a large three bed room home, and had plenty of room to play outside; just what we wanted. There was one problem though; the plants and shrubs around the house were overgrown badly. I knew what our task would be based on the conversation my mom and dad was having; we were going to be on weed detail.
The next morning after eating a good breakfast, we marched out the door to start the arduous task of removing weeds. Mom dispatched each of us kids to different locations to get the job done quicker. Dad on the other hand, stood on the side line and watched while mom and we kids did all the work. He was moms back up for us kids, when she needed us to tighten up and get on the ball.
I was pulling away at the weeds thinking I was doing a good job, when mom came over to inspect. She stopped me and informed me that I needed to pull them up by the roots, otherwise they would come back and make the garden look ugly and she didn’t want that. Well like most kids I responded by saying, “Yes mama,” and continued pulling weeds. What mom didn’t know though was; when I got to one that wouldn’t come out of the ground by the root, I’d just break it off at the ground and cover it up. We finished the yard work by the end of the day and what a transformation.
A couple of weeks later when coming home from school, something didn’t look quite right around the outside of the house. As I entered the house, mom stopped me and asks me to come outside with her. As we walked around the house, she pointed out the weeds that had grown in the flowers. I had been nabbed, the roots that I had left had come back to haunt me. Well, after a long lecture, and a few grueling hours of weed pulling supervised by my mom, I had learned my lesson.
Looking back at those days and even now working in my own flower garden; I can see how roots from weeds left unattended can spring forth and steal the beauty of the flowers. In the word of God we read, “…lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” (Hebrews 12:15b). Therefore as a child of God, we shouldn’t allow the root of bitterness to stay buried in our hearts; it will one day spring forth obscuring the beauty that God has intended for us to be. So take the time and ask God to help you “Dig up the Roots” in your life today.
Louis Edwards
1 comments:
Hey, Louis! Thanks so much for the comment on my blog. By the "sound" of your post, it "sounds" like you are an excellent instrument for the Lord. I love your weed post. Wonderful! Blessings to you!
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