A WORD FOR TODAY, June 24, 2013 “Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin: and ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons, My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved of him; For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness. Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees; and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.” Hebrews 12:1-13, ASV Vines can be beautiful. We’ve all see those spectacular pictures of ancient castles or stone houses covered in ivy. There’s something romantic and mysterious about what lies under and behind those leaves that spread so easily. But those same beautiful vines are actually very destructive. The tendrils dig into the mortar between the rocks or bricks and eats away at it until the walls are not stable. Years of mismanagement often leads to fallen walls. Ivy can also destroy plants and trees. It is important to keep ivy at bay. You can allow the ivy to be a part of your landscape, but you should train it to go where you want it to go. You can provide climbing trellises so that the ivy does not need to grasp onto the walls or trees, but remember that it will keep growing beyond that if you don’t constantly keep it trimmed. Now, we’ve been in our new house for just over a year. Slowly, but surely, we have been clearing out the landscaping, making it neat and tidy. We’ve even planted a few new plants around the yard, including some rose bushes. It takes time, but we are getting there. We don’t really have an issue with ivy on the house, but we do have different types of ivies in the gardens. We have a pathway to a side door that I like to use. It is near my studio, so I go out there to spray varnish my paintings or do other tasks that require good air ventilation. It was getting difficult to do those things because the plants on were growing over the sidewalk. We haven’t gotten to this area in earnest, yet, and there’s no way I could do it all today, but I decides to start by trimming the branches. I have to admit that I went a little crazy and left behind a large pile of branches, but I can now really see what works needs to be done and which plants really need to be removed to make the garden pretty again. The biggest job is to get rid of the ivy that is taking over. I managed to pull out several long vines, but I wasn’t able to deal with them down to the roots, which means that they will just start growing again. This type of ivy does not make it easy. First of all, the tendrils are incredibly strong. I could not believe how hard it was to pull the ivy off the tree branches. Most of the ivy I managed to remove today was connected to branches I trimmed from other plants. I found myself chopping the ivy just so I could get the branches out of the mess. I tried to find the ends of the vine to cut them down to the roots, but that led me to the discovery of the other problem with this ivy. The bottom two or three feet of this particular type of ivy is covered in very sharp thorns. There is no way to grab hold of the vine near the ground. I managed to scratch myself several times and poke my fingers more times than I can count. I got as much out as I could, but in some places I’m sure I just cut the vine from its roots to wither away. We will get more out as we continue to clear out that area, and perhaps the dead vines will be easier to deal with later. Sin is a lot like ivy. It might look good on the outside, but underneath it destroys. Like ivy, sin worms its way into our lives and grabs on with tendrils that will not let go. It is destructive and even deadly. It is easier to remove the sins that are apparent because digging in to the roots of our sin is very painful. We might make an impact by cutting the vine, but the roots will just keep sending out vines. We have to deal with it to the very roots. We may suffer a bit in the process of reforming our lives, but in the end we will find that everything will be better without it: our relationships with God and our neighbors, our health, our happiness, our peace.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 18:58:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015