6.23.2012 WEEDS AND SIN

i once had the job to paint a picket fence for a farmer who started a now flourishing chicken farm in the souderton area. at the time he was in his 80s. as i was beginning to sand and prep the fence he came out for a little while with a small spade and started vehemently, viciously, aggressively digging away at some pachysandra growing near the fence! a bit surprised and amused at the time,  i think i learned some things after he retired into the house and i had time to muse over what he did there. i got a number of unspoken 'lessons'.
1. when you work, give it your all! (the spartans said, 'sweat every day')
2. the thought came...here is a man who for many years has done battle with 'weeds' (ie. PLANTS GROWING WHERE YOU DON'T WANT THEM!) and plants left to grow where they should not be CAN DO GREAT DAMAGE to the plants that should be there...and consequently to earnings.
3. one can teach others by what they do and how they do it!

this all (especially #2) led me to some further, fruitful reflection.. about my asphalt  walkway in the back yard. over the years it has begun to crack up, especially in the area where the grass meets the asphalt. i began to pay a lot more attention to this area. i began to establish a small distance between the grass and the asphalt and noticed that the ongoing and increasing damage to the walk STOPPED dead in its tracks! i was and continue to be thrilled with this realization: that TINY, SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT PLANTS...IN THE WRONG PLACE CAN DO GREAT DAMAGE to things seemingly much stronger.. now my walk is no longer in danger of being destroyed by silent, easily overlooked, infinitesimal encroachment by living plants.

this has led to further reflection. SIN, like these little, seemingly innocent plants, IS A LIVING THING and is continually doing corrosive damage in my life.
am i thoughtful about what is going on in and around me.
am i watchful to refuse to allow tiny little thought sins grow into things that absolutely destroy me spiritually.
am i praying and seeking to identify sin at its inception...and then
am i ACTIVELY RESISTING it in prayer...AND NOT LETTING UP!!! until it is gone.  

may God make me as watchful and as aggressive in getting rid of my sins, as levi alderfer was with the plants that would silently ruin his fence.. MAY GOD HELP ME WEED OUT EVERY TINY LITTLE SIN AS SOON AS I AM AWARE OF IT and MAY HE GIVE ME A WATCHFULNESS AND AN AGRESSIVENESS TO REFUSE TO ALLOW IT TO REMAIN IN MY HEART/LIFE FOR EVEN A NANOSECOND! thank you dear levi for being the instrument by which God has blessed my life. may He grant me be like you in the seen and in the unseen world.