READ: Psalm 139: 23-24
I visited a friend this week and during the visit, she proudly showed me her emerging flower garden. She pointed to Sweet William and yarrow, a butterfly bush. And just as she was describing the different kinds of salvia, I noticed a healthy, lush patch of poison oak with mulch around it. When I asked why she was growing poison oak, she remarked with increasing volume, “A friend of mine gave me that two years ago, and I can assure you THAT IS NOT POISON OAK!” This was certainly poison oak. I realized that arguing was not going to help. So I begged her to be careful and consider investigating further into the identity of this plant. And as I drove home, I chuckled in disbelief that a person would deliberately grow, fertilize, weed, and mulch poison oak! We all know people who harbor something harmful in their lives. Sometimes they do it unaware. We see people nurture grudges, tend unforgiveness, and pour fuel on a gossiping spirit. Christ wants us to be aware of the sin and poison we harbor in our lives. God desires to peel away every sin we cling to. Are you holding on to something that you know is harmful for you? Ask God to reveal this sin to you and give you wisdom and power to rid your life of it.
I visited a friend this week and during the visit, she proudly showed me her emerging flower garden. She pointed to Sweet William and yarrow, a butterfly bush. And just as she was describing the different kinds of salvia, I noticed a healthy, lush patch of poison oak with mulch around it. When I asked why she was growing poison oak, she remarked with increasing volume, “A friend of mine gave me that two years ago, and I can assure you THAT IS NOT POISON OAK!” This was certainly poison oak. I realized that arguing was not going to help. So I begged her to be careful and consider investigating further into the identity of this plant. And as I drove home, I chuckled in disbelief that a person would deliberately grow, fertilize, weed, and mulch poison oak! We all know people who harbor something harmful in their lives. Sometimes they do it unaware. We see people nurture grudges, tend unforgiveness, and pour fuel on a gossiping spirit. Christ wants us to be aware of the sin and poison we harbor in our lives. God desires to peel away every sin we cling to. Are you holding on to something that you know is harmful for you? Ask God to reveal this sin to you and give you wisdom and power to rid your life of it.
– Virginia Thompson