The Hoe

thorns … grew up and choked the plants

Matt 13:7

As the days lengthen and spring sunshine warms the soil, it bursts into life with a carpet of green shoots, each a long-dormant seed that’s destined to become a plant, bush or tree.

But not all those little green shoots are welcome. Some are weeds, thorns and thistles, all of which need hoeing out fast to ensure the plants we really want, have room to flourish.

Life’s a bit like that soil. Left unattended the seeds of bad habits, unhealthy attitudes and poor relationships spring up alongside all the good ones. And the best time to root them out is always when they are small.

• The little weed of a bad habit can become a life-dominating problem if allowed to become a deep-rooted tree.
• The green shoot of a poor attitude left unattended can become a thicket of negativity, envy and resentment.
• Ignoring a tiny relationship dysfunction can leave it to grow and eventually become a significant relationship-breaker.

Nip things in the bud. Hoe the green shoots of any little ‘weeds’ out of the soil of your life.

Determine to be good soil in which the seed of God’s word can flourish, ‘someone who hears the word and understands it’ and as a result ‘produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown’ (Matt 13:23)

#lifeisaparable