Years ago, when my brother, Paul, and his wife, Jenny, were newlyweds, they purchased their first home. It was cute and on a cul-de-sac, which was a bonus, since she was expecting their first child. The front of the house was lined with a row of holly bushes on either side of the entrance.
After living there a few months, my brother decided that he didn’t like the holly bushes and wanted to remove them. He headed to the hardware store to purchase a rope, deciding that the best way to remove them was to tie a rope to his car and pull them out of the ground. So, tying the rope around the first bush and then attaching it to the car, he proceeded to pull the car forward down the driveway. He fully anticipated that the holly would pop right out of the ground, but the only popping that happened was the popping of the rope as it broke in two.
What Paul did not know was that the twenty year old holly bushes were deeply rooted. Like a typical male, he determined that they were not going to get the best of him, so he called a friend and borrowed a large pick-up truck and then proceeded to return to the hardware store, only this time he purchased a heavy duty chain.
He cut the bushes down as far as he could and then placed the chain around the stub of the holly. He then attached the other end of the chain to the hitch on the pick-up truck. Starting up the engine, he gently pulled the pickup forward down the driveway; it began to resist the pull, but he kept moving forward. Pop! Out came the first holly. Success! He had managed to pull from the earth the deeply rooted holly.
I have things; well let’s just call them what they are, SINS, in my life that are as deeply rooted as those holly bushes. Some have been deeply rooted for many years. One of the sins I struggle with is envy and jealousy. I have realized the depth of this sin over the past few years, as Mark and I have walked a hard road, so very different from all my friends. At times, I have found it hard to rejoice with them in what seemed to me to be their good, easy, happy, vacation filled “normal” life. I have struggled with being envious and jealous.
In the past several months, God has revealed to me the unattractiveness of this sin, and just how deeply rooted it has been in my life. In fact, I can look back and see that I have been wearing this ugly outfit of jealousy for quite some time. It has affected my relationships, at times causing me to be critical of others and just downright mean spirited. I have come to greatly dislike this sin and the way it looks on me.
Holly bushes are one of the deepest rooted plants; they are almost impossible to dig up! Sin can become deeply rooted in our lives, affecting our relationships with others and our heavenly Father. But, because nothing is too difficult or hard for Him, He is able to free us of the deeply rooted sins in our lives.
Out of His mercy, determination, and grace, my sweet heavenly Father has taken the chain and the Ford Tundra to my sin and is removing it from the soil of my life. How thankful I am for His persistence and desire that I look like Him!
Father, I am humbled that You love me so much that You have chained my deeply rooted sins and are removing them from the soil of my life. You gave your Son’s innocent blood to cover my sin and set me free from its grip. My heart desires to reflect You, and to love as You love. The only way I am able to do this, is in letting You dig up the deeply rooted sins in my life, setting me free to love as you love and to reflect the radiance of Your Son!
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.” Psalm 51:2-4
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth ; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5-10