Life lessons are often everyday things that have a long-term and wider effect.
Like many from my generation we were expected to do chores in and around the house. One of my least favourite jobs was weeding. Being quite tall I hated kneeling or bending trying to weed around our family home. One day my dad must have been watching me weeding. Because the roots of the weeds were quite deep and robust, it was easier to twist or cut the weeds at ground level. My dad warned me that if I did that, the weeds would quickly sprout again and I would have to weed again. His logic was, “Take the weed out, roots and all,” and I would save myself a lot of trouble in the future.
This life lesson was helpful but it had another application. We often do with sin what I did with the weeds. We remove what’s on the surface without removing the roots. It won’t be long before your sin will surface again.
A true Christian is someone whose public and private lives are the same. God does not look at the surface, he looks at our hearts.
Thanks, dad, for my life lesson that remains true even after 50 years.
