Living With the Weeds

by Macy Johnson

“Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.”

(Matthew 13:30 NIV)

Spring has sprung in our yard. 

From a distance the front lawn appears to be immaculate, but up close is another story. Crabgrass, Dallisgrass and other uninvited plants are taking hold and basking in the sun alongside our struggling Bermuda grass.

My Master Gardener husband reminds me that weeds are not bad in and of themselves. Unwelcome vegetation to one horticulturist may be preferred blossoms to another. Many of the stunning, flowering plants in butterfly gardens grow wild in prairies, uncultivated. Unwanted by some, coveted by others.

I like to yank suckers off the wax myrtles, Ligustrum, crape myrtles, and flowering-peach trees in our yard. These tiny spurts of greenery on the elegant wooden stalks pilfer the plants. They are not weeds, but still steal sun, water, and nutrients from the beautiful, leafy, upper growth.  

Life is crowded with weeds and our own life-sprouts that can pull us away from our Heavenly Father. They appear in the form of people, entertainment, tasks, an infinite list. God calls us to thrive among the weeds, not attached, because one day they will be taken away.

I will pluck out the weeds that grow in my mind and heart and hand them over to the Master Gardener to be burned so I can worship and serve without limit in His garden today! I hope you will, too!