Admiring the Weeds

The other day as I was driving along in my minivan, I passed a hillside covered in dainty purple flowers.  I thought to myself how beautiful they looked and smiled as I welcomed the warm spring weather that had recently made an appearance.  As I continued to drive by the hill, I realized my mistake; these pretty splashes of purple on the hill were not flowers but weeds.

I have been attracted to weeds before.  I loved dandelions as a child.  In one of my favorite pictures of myself, I am playing in a field of dandelions, bending down trying to smell one.  I used to love when they were no longer bright yellow globes but instead puffy, white cotton balls that I could blow all over the yard.  Little did I know at the time, but I was spreading weeds all over the grass, weeds that would cover the lawn if left unattended.

All I knew was that they looked pretty.  I was attracted and, yet, deceived by the dandelion, believing I was enjoying a beautiful flower when in fact I was playing with nothing more than a damaging weed.

When I drove by the purple weeds the other day, I couldn’t help but think how sin is very much like those weeds–seemingly beautiful, yet deceitful.  How often have I chosen to do something because it seemed right, harmless, even beautiful to find out later that I was allowing the seeds of sin to spread within me!  Just as I was attracted to the dandelions as a child, there are certain sins that are able to draw me in, and left unchecked, they could overtake me.

As Good Friday comes to a close, I think of my Savior who hung on a cross on a hill, possibly covered with weeds of its own.  I thank Him for His sacrifice, a sacrifice that allows me to see the dandelions for what they really are.  I thank Him for His sacrifice, a sacrifice that plucks the weeds from my heart and draws me to His.