My flower bed = a scene from Jumanji

This is the first time we have ever had a yard let alone a flower bed to tend. I have no clue about gardening and kill most things I try to keep alive. So when we moved into our house, I didn't have high hopes for our flower bed. I figure I'm good at killing things so nothing out there should last too long. Well, I was wrong. Our front flower bed is a wreck - not with dead things, but with too many WEEDS. Every time I pass by, I cringe because it is so overgrown (see picture!). Honestly, at this point I can't tell what's a weed and what's a plant.

Yesterday afternoon I had it. As the kids played, I went after those weeds like a crazy person. There were a series of vines that were covering the ground, taking over rose bushes and trying to climb into our house! You want to hear the crazy thing? I didn't even SEE it all until I started pulling it out.

Pulling up weed after weed, the Lord impressed on me the sin that can live in my own heart - the way it hides in plain sight. If you have a nicely manicured flower bed, pulling a weed on a weekly or daily basis is no big deal. But if your flower bed has turned into a scene from Jumanji, it's going to take a while. Some weeds even tricked me into thinking, "That's a plant, not a weed. It looks kind of pretty - maybe I should just keep it." Until I pulled it up with satisfaction knowing it was one more weed invading my beautiful space (hard to believe the picture below is the SAME corner of my flower bed).

Sin comes in all shapes and sizes. There seem to be the obvious ones like lying, stealing, cheating and hate. While pride, ungratefulness, gluttony, selfishness, and gossip seem to hide in the category of "pretty weeds," but Jesus sees them all the same. I do not want these weeds taking over my life - they've got to go!

I must go to the Master Gardener, Jesus Christ who can take care of my sin problem. Jesus not only rescued me from my sin, but He now takes the time to clear out my junk. He lovingly and sometimes painfully clears out the weeds - for my good and His glory.