Sitting outside, keeping Marcia company while she picked Nanking Cherries was refreshing. I picked 30-40 berries before I ran out of steam. We were surprised and thankful to have such a bumper crop and commented on how ‘clean’ they were. We only found one worm in the first two pickings. The apple crop also looks good this year, but my illness has kept us from a proper spraying schedule (I can’t be anywhere near the stuff), so it appears there will be more worms to contend with there.
The old adage that one worm spoils the barrel is quite true, not only in fruit harvesting but also in our personal, work, and spiritual lives (which really is just one integrated life). Such is the story throughout the Old Testament and today too. Even the “good” kings did not always remove the “high places” of idolatry that was detestable to God. Despite all the other ‘good’ they did, they permitted evil to continue in parts of their kingdom, and this compromise always brought about calamity.
Such is true in our lives too. As good as we might try to be or at least to look, one act of compromise in one part of our life can cause our integrity, our relationships, our finances, and our spiritual health to crumble. It is said that no good gardener purposefully keeps a section of weeds in her garden. Why would we want to keep a section of weeds in our life? Weeds like a complaining nature, a deceitful or unforgiving heart, negative thinking, greed, judgmental thinking, gossip, the pride of always being right.
Maybe as you look at your life, you recognize one of these. Or perhaps you discover something else. This would be a good day to commit yourself to a better life for you, your family, your coworkers and employees. What one weed would you like to forever ban from your garden? It starts with awareness that weeds have a way of taking over everything else if unattended to, and then a commitment to say, “No more!” If you want to experience real power over this situation, invite God to strengthen and guide you on this path as you seek to honor Him.