Weed Be Gone

While walking the other day, I giggled when I looked down at the sidewalk. This particular sidewalk was around a vacant lot. It was cracked, but you couldn't really see the cracks because they were filled with weeds.I was just hoping I wouldn't trip over them. As your Daddy knows, it takes a lot for me to just walk over those weeds and not just start yanking them out or at least running to grab my weed sprayer to kill them. It reminds me of that quote in the movie Jurassic Park where Jeff Goldblum's character warns the dinosaur geneticists, "Life finds a way." If there is a crack in the ground, weeds will grow. They always do.

It's the same with our lives. If there is even the slightest crack in our spiritual armor, weeds will grow. And if you continue to let them grow, they get even worse. For example, that one cuss word you utter. Just that one, opens the door for others to flow through. That one little white lie can lead to many, many more. Gossiping a little leads to gossiping a lot. Satan is desperately looking to get a foot hold (Ephesians 4:27). He is prowling, Peter tells us, like a lion looking to devour us. (1 Peter 5:8)

There is a reason why Paul uses armor as an example of our spiritual life in Ephesians 6. Armor for the warrior covers all the vulnerable parts that could lead to death: head, heart, internal organs, sometimes even the full body like arms and legs of medieval knights (I chuckle thinking of them trying to walk). But there are weaknesses even in those full body armor suits. Necks, under the arms, behind the knees. Wherever there's a crack, that is where the archers would aim. Satan, too, is looking for the cracks. So Paul warns us to have the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, belt of truth, shield of faith and good news shoes on while holding the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Salvation, righteousness, truth, faith, the Word ... that is our armor! And we must be fully covered to be fully safe.

My dear children, know that every single day Satan is looking for your weaknesses. Every. Single. Day. How can he pull you from the Father? How can he get you to fail? Even just a little, because that just gives him an easier opportunity to get you to fail faster and harder the next time. The battle is on. He will try to get you to sin. Your whole marriage long, he will be working on you. How can I tempt them to ... ? He's got thousands of years of experience at temptation, and his success is epic. The Bible is full of relatable stories of failure. We are not immune to temptation. Even Christ was tempted. However, with God's help we can defeat it. Notice that with Christ, it was the Word He used in His defense. So meditate on it, memorize it, read and study the Word and let it become part of you ... so that there are no cracks for Satan to find.

When I got home from my walk, I saw a teeny tiny little weed growing near my front door and to its left an even tinier one. I grabbed the larger of the too and instantly pulled it out. But the tinier one,I couldn't get a grip on it. Just days later, that weed was a full blown plant. That's all it took. Yes, I got a good hold of it and yanked it out, but I noticed a tiny bit of the root was still in there. It will be back. So see to it when you are armoring up, if you already have some weeds, don't just pull out what's at the surface. Get to the root of it and destroy it. Or it will attempt to come back.

Arm yourself. Weed out the bad. Get to the root of it. Get it before it gets you. You will save yourself much heartache, confusion and deeper sin by prevention, protection and a good thorough weeding.

Discussion: Are there weeds in your life that need pulling? What are some areas where you need some spiritual armor strengthening? Can you share a story where you let a "weed" grow in your life and its consequences.

Prayer: Sometimes, Father, we don't notice at first the evil that is lurking and successfully creeping into our lives. Give us your Holy Spirit incite to catch those moment and eliminate the temptation from our lives. Give us courage, strength and perseverance. In Christ we pray, Amen.