It’s that time of year again: the flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, the birds are nesting … and the weeds are growing. Try as I may, I can’t seem to keep my lawn free of these unwanted dandelions, white clover, and ground ivy, or my woods from honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, and pokeweed. I’ve pulled them by hand, poisoned them, cut them down, and insulted their mothers, but they persist all the same.
Every time I pull weeds or cut down yet another invasive honeysuckle bush, I find myself thinking about the same thing: Sin. Now, this could be the manifestation of my subconscious regret of another wasted Saturday expending time, money, and energy on my losing battle against nature. (Indeed, this is likely partially the case.) But I also think there’s something theological at work. In a perfect world, our grass would remain the perfect length, our veggies and fruits would be bug-free, and our flowers would stand tall. In a perfect world, there would be no weeds.
Weeds are the constant reminder that we live in a fallen world. It goes back to God’s words to Adam in Genesis 3:17-19, where God curses the ground: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” What a pain. It’s all Sin’s fault. That dandelion that magically reappears overnight … blame Sin. That bush honeysuckle that returns even after I cut it down three times before … blame Sin. That poison ivy lurking behind the fence … blame Sin.
Indeed, the results of Sin are everywhere. (Don’t even get me started on mosquitos!) Still, there is hope. Every time we pull weeds, we are reminded of how the whole Earth is moaning for God’s redemption. But we know that the day is coming when we will toil no longer. God in his timing will usher in the new heavens and new Earth when all of creation will be redeemed. We can look forward to the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2). No more weeds. And, even better, no more pulling weeds – no more toil over the ground. That day is coming. In the meantime, I will keep raising my pokeweed-stained gardening gloves and cry out once again, “Lord Jesus, come quickly!”