[543 words]
There are weeds dying at my house (in fact, many are already dead). I know because I had a big part in killing them. As I was in the process of spraying them with a certain herbicide, an interesting analogy came to mind–I was actually playing Satan. Notice these salient points:
Someone once noted that a weed is a simply plant that is out of place. That leads me into my first point–I only picked the plants that were out of place. The ones that were where they were supposed to be, I left alone. Satan is the same way. He notices those who have veered off the “strait and narrow” and picks on them (sometimes he even lures them off of the path that leads to righteousness – read Jas. 1:14 and 1 Pet. 5:8).
Another thing to mention concerning the weeds and myself is that I deceived them. I sprayed them with mostly water. They thirstily drank it in and, if they could have spoken to me, probably would have thanked me for the refreshing liquid. But my intent was not to refresh them but to destroy them. Satan does no less–he wraps up sin in a pretty package. But he is a liar–a deceiver (read Rev. 12:9 and Rev. 20:2-3).
The reason that I watered those weeds was to destroy them. You see, there was poison in the water (the herbicide). My whole purpose in spraying the weeds was to contaminate and kill them. Unbeknownst to the plants, as they drank in the water, they also ingested the poison. Satan works much in the same fashion. As we take in the pleasures of sin, Satan is secretly poisoning our lives (read Rom. 7:11 and Eph. 4:22).
Something else to note is (because of the type of chemical I was using) it took the plants a while to die. For a few days, they went about their normal lives, but then all of a sudden, they started dying, and by then it was too late. That is Satan’s greatest hope for us–that we continue in sin oblivious to the consequences. Then all of the sudden, by the time we realize how great of sin we are in, it may be too late (read Heb. 3:13 and 1 Tim. 4:1-2).
Finally, I would like to make the point that most of these weeds were good plants. A lot of it was grass that would have looked beautiful in my yard. Their mistake was that they put themselves in a vulnerable position by growing where I didn’t want them. They were not being useful where they were, so I got rid of them. Satan can’t wait for us to get a little out of line so that he can poison us. Why would we ever desire to place ourselves in such peril? (1 Tim. 6:11 and Jas. 4:7).
So, look out for Satan, he is trying to “round up” as many as he can so that he can destroy them. Don’t be a weed, be a productive plant for God (read Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43; 15:13; John 15:1-6; Gal. 5:22-23).
Edd Sterchi
Broadway church of Christ
Campbellsville, KY