In the gardens of our hearts, weeds, like sin, come in to hinder fruit-bearing. I noticed a seemingly endless variety of weeds in my raspberry patch this year, just as sin comes in many forms. Some of the weeds in the patch were quite tall and spread out, causing the tender fruit-bearing plants to be without the light and warmth of the sun, which in turn stunted their growth.
There were other weeds that were small and seemingly not a problem, but the roots went very deep. Sometimes we have sin in our lives that by all appearances doesn’t look very bad. But those deep roots draw water away from the good plant and slow growth.
Some weeds grew together in clumps, making them very difficult to pull up. Often one sin leads to another until there is a strong bundle that is harder to remove in our lives.
Then there were those weeds that looked so much like the leaves of the raspberry plants that I could have easily overlooked them. Satan has many imitations and can make sin actually appear to be something good. Many people have appeared to be Christians but in reality are no different than the imitating weed that will never bear fruit. Some weeds required extra digging to get them out of the ground. Often those kinds left an unsightly mark on the terrain. Sin, too, can leave scars.
Other weeds had some very attractive flowers which made them seem harmless and even desirable to keep in the garden. They, too, were detrimental and taking away water and nutrients from the fruit-bearing plants. In 2 Corinthians 11:14 we learn that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
Another interesting thing in our raspberry patch was a weed that had grown up under a piece of carpet on the ground. I had put some strips of carpet between the rows to prevent the weeds from growing. But this weed was not deterred and had grown sideways under and across the carpet until it eventually came up and out into the sunlight. Sometimes we think we can prevent sin by putting something in the way (a content-control filter on the computer, for example.) It may seem successful for a while, but Satan has ways to get around obstacles. We can’t sit back and relax just because we think the weeds don’t have a chance.
Would I need to be able to recognize and identify every weed that springs up in our raspberry patch before it can be pulled out? No. I just have to know what the raspberry plant itself looks like. The rest are weeds. If we read the Word of God and know what is right, there will be no question as to what is sin. “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good” (Isa. 7:1515Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. (Isaiah 7:15)).