The problem with weeds

Now that the Spring equinox has passed, I thought it was time to get out into the garden!  Nothing too strenuous at first, just a bit of tidying up and surveying the state of things after the winter.  A little pruning, cutting away dead branches and stalks, enjoying the promise of new growth, imagining the scent of sun-warmed lavender, thyme and rosemary during the summer ahead…

Then, of course, the start of the growing season means the re-emergence of the perennial weeds that are so difficult to eradicate.  ‘It is,’ says one of my gardening books, ‘important to remove the plant as completely as possible.’  I have been, so far, unable to identify one particular weed that keeps coming up in one part of the flower bed, and however far down I dig I rarely manage to find a root.  So I end up by removing leaves and stalks – which looks fine on the surface but is really only at best damage limitation!  And I know full well they will soon be in evidence again.

Isn’t that like sin?  By making an effort, by turning over a new leaf, things can look alright on the surface for a while but our best efforts can never reach, let alone remove, the root problem.  It is only as we come to the Lord Jesus in repentance and faith that our sin can be truly dealt with.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?  Jeremiah 17:9

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:7

In wonder lost, with trembling joy,

We take the pardon of our God,

Pardon for sins of deepest dye,

A pardon sealed with Jesus’ blood.

Who is a pardoning God like Thee?

Or who has grace so rich and free?

                             Samuel Davies