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Spring

Spring. Tulips, daffodils, and other perennials poke their green heads out of the waking soil.  Buds start emerging on rose bushes, trees and lilacs.  Robins start their courtships and seek materials for nest construction.  New life is under every pile of last year’s leaves and on every limb.

            Antsy to be a part of the awakening process, I get on my knees and start trimming dead branches off and uncovering the green sprouts.   As anxious as the new growth, I eagerly set to work.  My hands clearing the old, I discover a plethora of green vines, intertwined through my flowerbed.  Amazed at the amount and strength of this eager spring plant, I work to seek its source.  As my fingers follow the strong, fresh leaves, I discover that this stronghold has not only grown rapidly but has also purposely wrapped itself around my roses, tulips, daffodils, and other bushes, threatening to choke them out.

            Ivy is a beautiful ground cover and hearty plant, but a potential menace to any

neighbor plants.  Eager to protect my new growth I make a decision; lose the ivy and save the rest.  I wrestle with the strong, determined vines, some already four to five feet long.  Pulling heartily, I struggle to clear the menace, my spring flowers sighing in relief.  As I work, my thoughts turn to a recent Bible study I completed on bitterness and how similar these stubborn vines are.

            Bitterness takes a quick, strong hold with deep roots like ivy.   Bitterness permeates

many areas of our lives.  Areas that have potential for beautiful growth until the strong vine of this sentiment choke them out, debilitating their potential.  The growth is rapid and deep rooted.  Just like the ivy that threatens my spring flowers, bitterness impedes the areas of your life that God wants to be glorified through.  God’s word says to get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger.  For your life to be the beautiful garden that God has designed, it has to be free of this menace.  Just like my ivy, you have to go all the way to the root to rid yourself of bitterness.

 How is your life’s garden looking?  What pruning and weeding needs to be done for the beauty of your life to completely sprout and bloom?  Ivy and bitterness do not have to reign in your flower garden or in the garden of your life.  Make the decision today to do some much needed weeding.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger…” Ephesians 4:31.