"Weeds"

 Maybe you can tell me why,

A weed will grow and never die,

Needs no rain nor good condition,

Up through a crack unto fruition,

Can someone tell me why?

A weed will grow and never die.

The good plant on the other hand,

Struggles hard across the land,

Needs good care and lots of rain,

And sometimes, let me make it plain,

Won’t turn out as you planned.

I’ve seen it all, at that, firsthand.

I blame it on the curse you see,

That came down to you and me,

Old serpent got the best of them,

Got Eve first and then got him,

Since now we plant and pray to be,

Successful with our seeds, our plea.

Weed out the things that we despise,

Depend on Him to make us wise,

We have to fight the weeds,

Go out and plant good seeds,

Don’t buy the devil’s lies,

Stay focused on the prize.

“The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. The evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.” (Matthew 13:19-22, NLT)

God plants the seed of His Word in the soil of our hearts, but as Jesus said, it doesn’t always bear fruit. Jesus said if we can understand this parable, it was the key to understanding all of them. The point of the parable is that even though God’s Word is alive and powerful enough to change our lives, competing factors also come into play. Those who don’t understand can fall prey to the devil’s theft of the Word. The emotional yet shallow reception of the seed doesn’t last because problems and persecution render it fruitless. The seed never really takes root. Then the thorns of worry and the lure of wealth can choke out the Word. But when these factors are overcome, the Word brings transformation and fruitfulness in different measure with different people. This shows that ultimately the results are in God’s hands. Let’s decide to let nothing prevent our fruitfulness.

Lord, make us fruitful, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Herman Walker, hermanwalker.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Herman, and God bless you.