Weeding Out The Enemy

Spring is such a beautiful time of year. All the colorful flowers bursting forth everywhere. However, there is one downside to this season: weeds! The other day, I decided I’d had enough of the dastardly enemy growth spilling out over my walkways. It was war. I put on my work clothes and took up ammunition to fight back. Rake, shovel, hoe - I was ready.

I prodded and pulled and raked for hours, sweat dripping down my cheeks. Usually, I get discouraged when battling these foes because in the back of my mind, I know they’ll just pop back up in a few weeks.

But this year, I’m hopeful. I learned of a product I can use in my flowerbeds that prevents new weeds from germinating for up to three months. I went to the gardening store and purchased some of this preemergent herbicide and couldn't wait to sprinkle it around my yard.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could sprinkle a preemergent over our hearts and lives to prevent sin from popping back up? Jesus says in Matthew 12:43-45 that if we clean out old sin – banishing evil spirits, and ridding ourselves of the enemy’s strongholds – but neglect to fill our lives with God, we are leaving the door wide open for that sinful spirit to return with even more destructive force.

Getting rid of sin is only the first step. It’s like my day of weeding. Sure, we can clean out the flowerbeds of our lives by confessing our sins to Christ. But once we’ve done that, we need to take the next step: filling each day with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit so that the enemy’s invasive seeds can’t take root. Today, I will sprinkle God’s word on my heart. I will ask Him to lead me by His Holy Spirit.

“So I say live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Galatians 5:16)