Gnarly Weed Bulb Roots

In my last post, I briefly mentioned the gnarly weed bulbs in front of my house. My grandfather was a gardener and my mother inherited his green thumb (well, more than I did). While the ground is still hard and frozen, I managed to get a handful of bulbs with some of its roots attached. But as I hacked away at the frozen ground with my spade shovel, I realized that these gnarly weed bulbs had been here for a while. These aren’t skinny roots. They’re deep and well established and widespread.

My front yard doesn’t have one gnarly weed bulb root; I have a lot. If I suddenly decide one morning (like today) that I should take those bulbs out so I don’t have an ugly house come spring, I can’t just whack off the gnarly weed bulbs that I see on the surface. Whacking off the gnarly weed bulbs on the surface might prevent my front yard from being ugly this season, but it won’t solve the problem in the long run. No, I need to get my gloves on and my rubber boots and get ready to break a sweat and put some time and effort into this project. I need to dig deep down into the soil and pry those suckers out. I have to be careful to not leave any part of the roots lingering in the ground because it will grow back and I’ll have another season with this unsightly gnarly weed bush in front of my house.

In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he warns against false teachers and teaches about true contentment. And in 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul writes, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” But see, the thing is (and I even mistyped it the first time), the love of money is not THE root of all kinds of evils; it’s A root of all kinds of evils.

And if I were to liken my front yard to my heart, I have a lot of gnarly weed bulb roots there too. Take for example, the “root of bitterness” mentioned in Hebrews 12:15. On the surface the gnarly weed bulb looks like anger and malice and gossip, and those roots spread deep and wide and affect my ability to reflect Christ. The love of money on the surface looks like lying and stealing and coveting, and those roots spread deep and wide and affect my ability to reflect Christ. Because if I’m a temple of God and I got all these gnarly weed bushes growing out all over the place, what will people think of my God?

But I can’t just knock off the surface stuff. I can’t fix only what people will see. The root of the problem is the root in my heart that is suffocating the love of Christ in my life out of me. It’s easier (it’s not easy) to knock off the surface stuff. But it doesn’t solve the problem. I need to roll up sleeves and get ready to do real work on my heart. It’s not easy. It hurts. It takes effort. It takes time. And it’s necessary.