Ignoring God

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
James 1:15

I knew I shouldn’t have waited so long. The weeds in my garden were almost as tall as the vegetable plants. I tried to gingerly pull them out but the weed roots were often entangled around the good plant. As the weeds came up so did the soil holding the vegetables in place. The poor little veggies fell over to the side and I worked to prop them back up. What should have been an easy job, now took hours of tedious, sweaty work.

God has taught me so much as I work in my garden. He has shown me about the harvest but this day He taught me about sin and what happens when we let it grow. Just like weeds, sin takes over when we allow it to remain in our lives. When we ignore sin it will overtake the fruit in our lives; and when we leave it to grow deep roots, it will choke the life right out of us. The easiest way to get rid of sin is to remove it when we first notice it. If we remove it quickly it doesn’t hurt us (and let’s face it --those around us) as deeply.

Many times I have heard the whisper of my Savior warning me to get rid of something, to walk away, to shut my mouth, to turn that off, to take the thought captive and on and on. Jesus is our helper and He is constantly looking out for us. He isn’t silent but sometimes we choose to ignore Him. The Bible says His “sheep know His voice” (John 10:4) but sometimes His sheep take off running in the wrong direction –right toward the wolves. Jesus tells us to flee from sin and He is quick to call us back when we are heading toward sin which will always hurt us. I know it is true and so do you. He is always right. The sooner we listen to Him, the sooner we remove the sin, the easier it will be to do so…and the much better off we will be! You got any weeds that need pulling?

Prayer: Oh Father, please show me the weeds – the sin I may be allowing to creep into my life. I know you want what is best for me and that you are my help to remove sin that hurts me and others around me. Help me to guard my life and follow you. I know you love me and you want what is best for me. Help me to hear your voice every day, in every area and follow you. I love you Lord. Amen.