The Parable of the Weeds

I love gardening. My father, Ratnam probably was the reason why I got started when I was around twelve or thirteen years of age in Kotte, Sri Lanka. Those days, I used to plant vegetables, sell them to my Mother Kate and then eat it!

The Bible talks so much about (gardening and) gardens. "Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" (Gen. 2:8-9; 15-16). "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Gen. 3:8). I deduce from Gen. 3:8 that God and Adam walked and fellowshipped often in the garden.

To me nature and gardens have been great places of fellowship. I love the song,

"I come to the garden alone -
while the dew is still on the roses And the voice I hear,
falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,
and the Joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known."

And then Cat Stevens sings in his own inimitable style,
"Morning has broken, like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird Praise for the singing,
praise for the morning Praise for the springing fresh from the world."

In the Philippines, we had a tiny bit of land. When I had time, I had a few moments of relaxation and gardening. Now once more I have a garden given by God''s grace to rebuild and and design by using the creative instincts God shares with us.

I love grass and well-kept green lawns but a part of Adams curse, "It will produce thorns and thistles" (add "weeds" Gen 3:18), definitely spilled over to our garden at 45 Nance St. One cursory glance will make you believe that the lawn is nice and green, but a closer look will tell you that it is the weeds that gives it that bright green look. The parable of the weeds (Mt. 13:36) are associated with sin. They may look nice on the surface. In fact they have bright beautiful yellow flowers, and dainty pink flowers to further prove the point. Probably, many years back there were a handful of these weeds and more of the grass. These flowers are loaded with seeds and when they dry they scatter their seed and multiply. Pretty eh? You can give it to your girl friend, fiancee, wife, Mother (of course) any body you love. But these are flowers that are the cause of the seeds that lead to more weeds. So I am on the war path against them. They will not be seen around our garden much longer.

Sin is very similar. They can even be attractive and beautiful. So beautiful and a part of our lives, that I may wonder, "what's wrong with that?" At the beginning, it is only a small thought, a tiny teenage habit. Soon and with time, it brings us into bondage. Some of these weeds have about six inch long roots to them. I have to dig deep to uproot them. When the weed is removed the effects of the weeds show in the bare spot that remains. The weeds kill all the grass in its surroundings. Literally it is a battle for domination. Grass versus the weeds. As a gardener I want the grass to win. Therefore, even though it takes time, I am determined to get the weeds out of this place by removing each weed by its root. Never mind the pock marks they leave on the lawn. Hopefully, one day, the beautiful grass will grow back over those patches.

The weeds are just a pretense. You can mow it down and it will create an impression that the garden is green. Just like sin can be made to look normal and nice, but it eats into our souls daily. I am not sure when I will get done getting rid of these weeds. But I will come back in a month or two, a second, third and fourth time to see that its done and it is a weedless garden.

That's how our Christian life is. Punishing sin, denying its strength, until its bondage and power is subdued. When you have dug out hundreds of weeds over and over again, you begin to realize what a painful process confession, repentance, and putting the flesh to death can all be.

This is one aspect of what my garden is teaching me (the other being the fellowship with the Father). I hope you too will have the privilege of gardening, minus the pain of weeding!