Lilies of the Valley

Last week I spent a few hours digging out the Lilies of the Valley. Their little fragrant flowers are delicate and lovely in the spring, but they became so tightly matted and entwined and threatened to march across the entire garden, so I decided they had to go. 

This morning in the blazing sun I sifted through the dirt again, and found lots of stray roots. Unbelievable, after my thorough weeding last week. It’s amazing how a root can go deeper rather than be lifted out. I’m sure there are more out there still.

It made me think of the way sin and bad habits can become embedded in our personalities. No matter how thoroughly we have worked to eradicate them from our behaviour, sometimes an insidious root sprouts again and threatens to overtake all the good work we’ve previously done.

That’s why we have to stay alert and be ready to wheak these bad habits out before they re-establish themselves and choke all the good that we’ve sown in their place.

Day by day as we walk with the Lord, he helps us to weed out that which is no good. He sifts the soil of our hearts, raising the roots from darkness to light, where we can see them for what they are and reject them in the power of his glorious name.

Now I know, Lilies of the Valley are not weeds. They do have a beautiful scent. But anything that gets as overgrown and matted as they were in my flower bed, overtaking and strangling other good things, is not welcome. 

It’s so easy for life to become unbalanced. For us to be so immersed, enthusiastically, in one ‘good’ thing that we let the other good things slide. I think God wants us to live balanced lives. Lives where one good trait complements another, and builds a complete package, a complete personality. 

May your day be balanced with good, and free of the bad. By God’s grace and mercy.