Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
In our neck of the woods, we have a weed called a goathead. It is an insidious weed. It starts out and looks a little like other grasses but as it grows it develops a “wheel spoke” appearance. This happens when it starts to spread its fingers out. Now, the best time to pull a weed is when it’s small but if it goes unnoticed and grows, then when the ground is wet is the best time to pull a weed because you want to get the root not just the surface plant. Now, if goatheads are let go, they not only spread like this but they flower and the flower bears “fruit”. However, this fruit is a small burr. It sticks in anything and everything it can and spreads itself that way. If it stays in the same area then it will also eventually put down roots into the ground. When larger plants have not been pulled, they can hide other small plants and/or more roots where the fingers have put down roots. If it continues to be allowed to grow it will take over good feeding pastures and hayfields. Animals cannot eat these plants because they are noxious – not to mention “burry”. So we try to pull these weeds as soon as they come to our attention. However, sometimes the only way to get rid of them is to burn a field after the growing season.
As I thought on these, I thought how like sin in our lives. Sin is best “pulled” when it’s small. However to know there’s sin to be pulled you have to see and acknowledge that it’s there. Unfortunately, we don’t always see the sin until it has developed a large root in out lives.
We tend to think the when we do something God calls sin that we’re just hurting ourselves. However, like the goathead, sin has fingers when it’s allowed to stay around and the longer that sin is allowed to stay around the longer the fingers become and then those fingers develop more “little” sins. When sin is not acknowledged and confessed in an individual, it will spread. It spreads first to those closest to us, family and friends. Then if it continues to be unconfessed, that sin will spread from family and friends to church family, community, city, county, state and eventually you have a nation who has deep rooted, unconfessed sin and the heart of not only individuals but the nation has become hardened and calloused to sin. They don’t see sin as sin anymore… after all, everybody’s doing it. Surely it can’t be wrong if so many people are doing it….that’s where we are WRONG!
So, let’s talk about some of the sins that start our “small” in our lives and can develop into rooted sin that develops fingers. We’ll start with the obvious ones. Pride. Pride can start out as simple as taking pride in our work—which by the way, we should do. However, when pride in our work develops a tentacle of “needing” acknowledgment from others, then we start to have a problem. It then becomes all about us, rather than doing as Colossians 3:23 says, 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
What is another sin that we allow to develop… well, let’s see… what about anger. Is it a sin to be angry? No, not the right anger. But anger that is allowed to seethe because our “rights” have been infringed upon… yes, that’s sin. Or anger that’s allowed to “go down with the sun”. That has potential to be come sin. Frustration and anger when not rightly dealt with become bitterness or passion out of control which can lead to murder, (either bodily death or character assassination a.k.a. gossip).
Another sin we don’t like to talk about in “Christian” circles is impure thinking. If an impure thought crosses your mind is that sin? Not if you immediately put it under the blood. But what if you take the thought and play with it in your mind? Unfortunately, we live in a world that bombards us all the time with opportunities to play with impure thoughts. Where do impure thoughts lead when allowed to grow? Adultery, murder, broken homes, and broken lives.
Solomon said that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:19-20, “ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man:…” You may say but I’m not guilty of any of these… Really? The only person who ever lived who had no sin, was Jesus Christ. Pride keeps us from even seeing our own sin. Pride is the basis for all sin. These sins listed here are just the outward manifestations of a thought life allowed to run amok.
So, let me ask you, are you allowing “goatheads” to grow in your life? What’s the cure for goatheads? John tells us in 1 John 1:9-10 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Do you rant and rave at crooked leadership, either local or national? Do you say, well, those authorities need a good hanging?
What about you? These people may show outward sin, but are you harboring goatheads in your life? They may be small but when not dealt with they spread their fingers out and before you know it the only way to take care of them is to “burn” ‘em. If we do not pull the weeds of sin out of our life daily, particularly after spending time in the Word (which is water for our ground), then sin spreads until a whole nation is covered in sin and the only way God can take care of a nation is to bring judgment and that often means death.
As you spend time in God’s Word today, won’t you ask Him to show you the “little” goatheads that are growing in your life so that you can pull them?
Molly Winter
Col. 1:9-10
My Comments: This really spoke to my heart as I consider all the little ways I can allow sin to take control in my life. I have to be on guard at all times as explained in Ephesians 6: 10-18 to stand against the attacks of the devil.
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
In our neck of the woods, we have a weed called a goathead. It is an insidious weed. It starts out and looks a little like other grasses but as it grows it develops a “wheel spoke” appearance. This happens when it starts to spread its fingers out. Now, the best time to pull a weed is when it’s small but if it goes unnoticed and grows, then when the ground is wet is the best time to pull a weed because you want to get the root not just the surface plant. Now, if goatheads are let go, they not only spread like this but they flower and the flower bears “fruit”. However, this fruit is a small burr. It sticks in anything and everything it can and spreads itself that way. If it stays in the same area then it will also eventually put down roots into the ground. When larger plants have not been pulled, they can hide other small plants and/or more roots where the fingers have put down roots. If it continues to be allowed to grow it will take over good feeding pastures and hayfields. Animals cannot eat these plants because they are noxious – not to mention “burry”. So we try to pull these weeds as soon as they come to our attention. However, sometimes the only way to get rid of them is to burn a field after the growing season.
As I thought on these, I thought how like sin in our lives. Sin is best “pulled” when it’s small. However to know there’s sin to be pulled you have to see and acknowledge that it’s there. Unfortunately, we don’t always see the sin until it has developed a large root in out lives.
We tend to think the when we do something God calls sin that we’re just hurting ourselves. However, like the goathead, sin has fingers when it’s allowed to stay around and the longer that sin is allowed to stay around the longer the fingers become and then those fingers develop more “little” sins. When sin is not acknowledged and confessed in an individual, it will spread. It spreads first to those closest to us, family and friends. Then if it continues to be unconfessed, that sin will spread from family and friends to church family, community, city, county, state and eventually you have a nation who has deep rooted, unconfessed sin and the heart of not only individuals but the nation has become hardened and calloused to sin. They don’t see sin as sin anymore… after all, everybody’s doing it. Surely it can’t be wrong if so many people are doing it….that’s where we are WRONG!
So, let’s talk about some of the sins that start our “small” in our lives and can develop into rooted sin that develops fingers. We’ll start with the obvious ones. Pride. Pride can start out as simple as taking pride in our work—which by the way, we should do. However, when pride in our work develops a tentacle of “needing” acknowledgment from others, then we start to have a problem. It then becomes all about us, rather than doing as Colossians 3:23 says, 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
What is another sin that we allow to develop… well, let’s see… what about anger. Is it a sin to be angry? No, not the right anger. But anger that is allowed to seethe because our “rights” have been infringed upon… yes, that’s sin. Or anger that’s allowed to “go down with the sun”. That has potential to be come sin. Frustration and anger when not rightly dealt with become bitterness or passion out of control which can lead to murder, (either bodily death or character assassination a.k.a. gossip).
Another sin we don’t like to talk about in “Christian” circles is impure thinking. If an impure thought crosses your mind is that sin? Not if you immediately put it under the blood. But what if you take the thought and play with it in your mind? Unfortunately, we live in a world that bombards us all the time with opportunities to play with impure thoughts. Where do impure thoughts lead when allowed to grow? Adultery, murder, broken homes, and broken lives.
Solomon said that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:19-20, “ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man:…” You may say but I’m not guilty of any of these… Really? The only person who ever lived who had no sin, was Jesus Christ. Pride keeps us from even seeing our own sin. Pride is the basis for all sin. These sins listed here are just the outward manifestations of a thought life allowed to run amok.
So, let me ask you, are you allowing “goatheads” to grow in your life? What’s the cure for goatheads? John tells us in 1 John 1:9-10 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Do you rant and rave at crooked leadership, either local or national? Do you say, well, those authorities need a good hanging?
What about you? These people may show outward sin, but are you harboring goatheads in your life? They may be small but when not dealt with they spread their fingers out and before you know it the only way to take care of them is to “burn” ‘em. If we do not pull the weeds of sin out of our life daily, particularly after spending time in the Word (which is water for our ground), then sin spreads until a whole nation is covered in sin and the only way God can take care of a nation is to bring judgment and that often means death.
As you spend time in God’s Word today, won’t you ask Him to show you the “little” goatheads that are growing in your life so that you can pull them?
Molly Winter
Col. 1:9-10
My Comments: This really spoke to my heart as I consider all the little ways I can allow sin to take control in my life. I have to be on guard at all times as explained in Ephesians 6: 10-18 to stand against the attacks of the devil.
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