Parable of the Weeds

At the Villa, we have about 10 different gardens filled with all kids of vegetables and beautiful flowers. We love having them, but they require a lot of dedication on our part, especially when it comes to weeding.

I have somewhat taken it upon myself to weed the gardens each day; a job that I have come to enjoy because it gives me a lot of time to pray and think.

Today I decided to tackle the tomato garden. This was no easy task because the garden was filled with tomato plants and beautiful purple flowers. BUT…these flowers were actually weeds and they were taking over. One hour and four buckets-full of weeds later, I finished the task. This little garden had been overrun with weeds that were sucking the water and nutrients from the plants.

It reminded me a lot of the parable of the sower.

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

~Matthew 13:4-8

Now in this case, “thorns” can be replaced with “weeds”. These weeds were choking the plants and taking over the garden. I feel like this is so true in all of our lives.

As Christians, we plant fruitful seeds in our hearts with the best intentions, but so often we allow weeds to grow in our hearts which inhibit growth. And just as in my tomato garden, these weeds are often beautiful and we mistake them as being an “added bonus”.

In my life, these beautiful weeds are my friends. Now don’t get the wrong idea, I love my friends and they have been such an important part in my walk with Christ. But so often, I have put my friends before God. It’s easy to meet with a friend for coffee and spiritual conversation. It is not as easy to take time in solitude to meet with God and gain spiritual insight. Many times, I was guilty of giving my friends priority and justifying it because I was “talking about God” or “gaining wisdom”.

Now I’m not saying that I need to give up my friends, but I need to make sure that they come after my relationship with God. I need to pull those weeds out of my heart so that it is open first and foremost to hearing what God is teaching me.

Here at the Villa, I don’t have the security of my friends. They are three countries and 5 1/2 hours away, going about their lives. And I have my responsibilities here. Here, at the Villa, it is easier to put God first because I don’t have the temptation to save my quiet time for after I see my friends. God is slowly pulling the weeds from my heart so that the relationship between us can grow bigger and stronger.


So what are the weeds in your life? Maybe it’s TV or movies that really aren’t glorifying to God but you justify it as a pastime. Or maybe it’s a boyfriend or girlfriend that isn’t walking with the Lord but you justify the relationship because “they can change”. Whatever it is, we are all walking around with weeds growing in our hearts. They are disguised as something beautiful and enticing, but really they are restricting our relationship with God.

So, maybe it’s time to start the weeding process.