A Weed Free Life

Hi Friends! 

Do you know what this is? It’s mistletoe—that proverbial “cute little sprig” which is traditionally hung up in doorways as a decoration during the Christmas holiday season. Its job is to precariously hang there, looking innocent, waiting for some unsuspecting victim to be caught beneath it.

When that happens, tradition says the one found under it must grant a kiss to the one who first sees them standing under it. Sounds like an innocent enough way use tradition to one’s advantage.   😉 

But before you get all caught up in idyllic visions of romantic kisses near a crackling fire, let me give you a gardener’s perspective of Mistletoe. 

I’ll start off gently. Mistletoe is from the pit of Hell! LOL! I mean, clearly— it just has to be! Here in the “way South”, where I live, it’s literally everywhere. In the winter months, when deciduous trees lose their leaves, mistletoe is still there— swaying in the treetops as the wind blows through their branches. At first glance, it looks like little clumps of leaves, still intact, here and there, in spite of the fact that all the tree’s other leaves have fallen. It takes a discerning eye to recognize that it’s actually a life-sucking, parasitic invader! 

It starts off as a thin, harmless looking vine, fully of dark green leaves. However, it isn’t long before the tendrils lasso nearby vegetation. It wraps itself around any and everything it touches, climbing higher and growing thicker, with every passing day. It doesn’t take long for that scrawny, harmless looking vine to become as thick as a human thumb. Oh… and I haven’t yet mentioned the THORNS! They cover nearly every square inch of a young plant’s stem.

As the vines thicken, the thorns space out a little bit but compensate by becoming piercing barbs, capable of penetrating even the toughest gardening gloves. I know this all too well, because just yesterday, I spent several hours cutting, tugging and pulling these noxious vines out of the tops of the lovely Crepe Myrtle trees scattered throughout my yard. My hands and arms suffered scratches in spite of the leather gloves and long-sleeve shirt that I wore. It’s a discouraging process because experience has taught me that within a few months, the vines will be back—thick and as full of barbs as ever! 

So why do I bother? Well… I do it because I love my trees, and left unchecked, mistletoe will grow tall enough to completely cover them. Its tendrils will wrap so tightly around their trunks that it will eventually choke the trees to death! It’s a challenging, never-ending battle, but one I see as a worthy investment. With the vines finally pried loose from the trees, I gathered them up began the process of dragging them to the burn pile. That’s right. There was more hot, sweaty work still left to do. There is no way I want them in the compost bin where they will spawn babies! 😛

That is the moment the Master Gardener begin showing me the spiritual lesson He had in store for me. He impressed upon me that we too are like beautiful Crepe Myrtle trees and that there is a never-ending series of challenges, temptations and frustrations that are constantly trying to attach themselves to us. He used this analogy to remind me that personal growth is hard work! It requires diligent pruning and faithful commitment. He showed me that if we stand there and do nothing, the cares of this world will grow stronger, climb higher and eventually have us in a strangle-hold, struggling for survival, just like the trees in my garden.

I looked at the manly sized pruning shears I had been using. It occurred to me that the Creator has given us a spiritual instrument to “cut through” deception, depression, frustration, disappointment, anger, anxiety and all other sorts of strangleholds! It’s His Word— the Holy Scriptures. Just like my pruning shears cut through invasive mistletoe vines, freeing my trees, His Word cuts through lies, fear and hopelessness! It’s part of an entire “Wardrobe of Protection” that He has provided for those who love Him! The Bible says: 

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace, ¹⁶ above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word^[a] of God; ¹⁸ with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:11-18, ~World English Bible translation)

Now, here’s the thing few people want to talk about. But friends— we NEED to be talking about it. Just because we are “believers”— mortal humans who have dedicated our lives to the Almighty God— Just because we love Him and have an arsenal of spiritual weapons at our disposal— it doesn’t mean we don’t occasionally let our guard down and get pricked by the barbs! That’s right! There are still times when we “wake up” out of a spiritual slump to find the “vines” of life have started to cover us! Without intervention, those things will strangle the life from us, and it can happen quickly! 

Friends, no matter what the world tells you—there is no “one time fixes it forever” solution!! We must remain diligent gardeners, willing to quickly prune away and burn the weeds that try to entangle us. It takes work. And it’s hard. But living free from the strangleholds of this world is worth it! Here’s to living a “weed free” life!

Until Next Time,