NOXIOUS WEEDS

One of the things we really enjoy in Southern Africa is seeing the vibrantly beautiful jacaranda

trees in bloom.  Driving along and seeing those bright spots of vivid, indescribable purple/blue on the hillsides is a highlight of that season.  The trees give lovely shade and provide nesting places for all kinds of birds.  They seem perfect and wonderful.

When we lived in Namibia we had some very large Lantana plants in our yard.  I remember going with my mother to the plant nursery in the spring and purchasing lantana to put in the flower beds.  We loved them and there they were growing wild in Namibia!  I really enjoyed them.

Lantana in our backyard 

What do these two plants have in common?  In South Africa they are considered noxious weeds and you can be fined for planting them.  The Jacaranda has limited areas where it can be planted but outside of those areas it is a big no!  

Another thing they have in common is that they are beautiful.  To us they seem like wonderful parts of God's creation which were created for us to enjoy.  However, they are truly pests and difficult to eradicate once established.

As I was thinking about this I realized that there is a spiritual lesson here for us.  

"How can something that feels so right be wrong?"  "If it feels good, do it."  "If it seems right to you, it can't be wrong."  Common phrases or attitudes in our world today.  Many attitudes and activities seem so beautiful to human beings but they become noxious weeds when planted where they do not belong.  

Jesus takes the planting of those noxious weeds seriously.  In Matthew 18:7-9 he says:

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!  And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

What about the weeds of complacency, pride, arrogance?  Remember the Pharisee?  He was thankful he wasn't like the tax collector.  Watch out for the noxious weed of the Pharisee's attitude.  What about the rich, young ruler who tried to justify himself?  Noxious weeds are everywhere.  Don't plant them.

We have to be willing to uproot those weeds in our lives.  As any gardener can tell you weeds are adaptable and persistent.  It is an ongoing process to keep the garden weed free.  The same thing is true of our lives.