Last night I used this device in the front yard.
Pancho was working on sprinkler system maintenance
and the kids were playing in the driveway and the yard
so I figured I would be useful and dig out
some dandelions.
As I used this thing, I could not help but think about
digging out the dandelions in my life.
The dandelions in my life are sins that have sprouted
here and there and everywhere.
Sometimes they go unnoticed, much like the lower right
corner picture in the collage.
I hardly notice them in the grass of my life
until I am standing right above them.
Others are much more noticeable,
like the upper right photo in the collage.
Standing straight up for all the passers-by to
take note of.
As I began to work my way around the yard,
pulling up dandelion root after dandelion root
there were so many parallels that God brought to mind.
The roots of the dandelions are tricky.
You have to be careful to not break the root
or it will sprout back up at the first chance it gets.
Sin is the same way.
It is essential to get to the very core of the
issue in order to have freedom from it.
I looked over at the neighbors yard,
the ones to the west of us.
They had a ton of dandelions in their yard.
Our yard looked pretty good compared to their's.
So good, in fact, that I almost put the device away,
grabbed a glass of iced tea and
sat on the porch watching Pancho work and
the kids play.
I say almost because right before I set down the
device, I glanced across the street at a few other yards.
Those yards had no dandelions in sight.
How could I leave dandelions in our yard
when their yards were without dandelions?
God used this to remind me that I must look to
Him and His righteousness when I see the sin in my life.
I cannot compare myself to those around me.
The only one I am given permission to
compare myself to Biblically is Jesus Christ
and He is "without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
Take a look at the largest photo in the collage.
That is not a dandelion.
That is a thistle.
Ouch!
Katrina was helping me by collecting all of the
already-pulled dandelions and when
I came to a few of those, I took them
to the trash immediately, not
allowing her to even touch them.
Sin hurts.
Too often I don't think about the
consequences of my sin and yet
left untouched, it turns into
something very ugly and painful.
(I know that dandelions do not turn into thistles)
The upper middle photo depicts the yard after I
finished digging up the dandelions and before
we collected them.
It is covered with them.
But once we collected them, the yard
looked really nice.
Sin mucks up my life.
Once it is recognized, confessed
and dealt with, it leaves my life
looking so much better in God's eyes.
I did not take a picture of the yard this morning,
10 short hours after I worked diligently to remove
the dandelions.
Do you know why?
I did not take a picture this morning
because this morning it appeared as if I had not spent
any time last night doing a dirty job to make the yard look
more presentable.
The same is true with sin.
It is there.
"All have sinned" Romans 3:23 tells us
and I have to work at recognizing,
confessing and dealing with it
every. single. day.
The good news is that Jesus is pleased
when we deal with the sin in our lives and
He is right there, pointing it out to us, not in
a condemning way, but rather, lovingly showing
us another "dandelion" to dig out, at the root!
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