Getting to the root of sin and its place in our lives

Read an interesting post at Evangelical Crossroads, Weeds: Theology from the garden today via the Koinonia blog. I was originally attracted to the gardening analogy used to demonstrate the point of sins very real presence in our lives, amidst all that we are and do. Because I garden, I understood the point, and it makes perfect sense when you consider the reality of sin on the surface but fail to contend earnestly with the roots below.

Author Chelle Stearns says,

"The imagery of weeds, sin and evil is intertwined throughout the Bible. The Old Testament prophets spoke of how God would uproot and plant. Judgment would be a sorting and a tending by God. Jesus, especially in the gospel of Matthew, talks of the complexity of discerning between the wheat and the weeds, and it would not be until the end of the harvest that whatever was not planted by God would be bound up and thrown in the fire. Jesus promises that at the end of the age, everything and everyone who causes sin and evil will be uprooted (cf. Matthew 13). In other words, Jesus is the good gardener who is patient enough to tend to his garden, not wanting to uproot too soon (2 Peter 3:9). God wants us to flourish, in the midst of all the weeds. Believe it or not, the healthier my garden, the fewer weeds. And so I wait, and I weed."

This is a great analogy to consider when we ponder the forbearance and longsuffering of our Lord Jesus Christ when we come face to face with our own inability to succeed at removing all the weeds in our lives, including the roots.