Ah Yes!  The incredible time of Spring.  The trees are blooming, the birds are singing, the grass is turning green once again, people are getting out and walking around enjoying the outside, and weeds are growing out of control.  How frustrating it is to experience something so beautiful and incredible only to have something as awful and ugly as weeds pop up to destroy it.  So what do we do?  Most of us grab the chemicals created to battle the nasty nuisances and we go to spraying or digging to eliminate the threat to our beautiful scenery.  Most of us also go to great lengths and expense to remove the threat to our  otherwise perfect environment.  Money is no object, time and energy are no objects, we will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to protect and secure our property.  Trish and I have recently gone to war with the weeds trying to invade and destroy our lawn and it has been through this process that another thought came to my mind.

I am preparing the material for multiple weddings that I will be officiating this summer.  I began to think about how beautiful and precious marriage is.  Then I began to think of how the weeds come out from time to time and threaten to destroy that perfect relationship.  The weeds appear in many different forms.  Financial worries, challenges with the kids,  stressed out schedules, needs and expectations not being met, etc. etc.   A couple of truths that immediately come to my mind are that weeds are going to pop up.  We don’t know where or when but we know they will come just like in our lawns.  The other truth is that if we don’t attack the weeds they will destroy everything good around them.  The best time to attack the weeds is before they even appear.  The final thought I have is an uncomfortable one.  Why do so many spend more time and energy and effort on destroying and controlling the weeds in their lawn than they do on destroying the weeds that are threatening the Godly blessing of their marriage?

Everybody knows that marriages require maintenance.  There are counselors and seminars and classes all around us to use as tools to attack and destroy the weeds that appear in our lives.   Our challenge is not to wait until we see the weeds appear before we take action. The most affective time to attack is before they appear.  Matthew 13:7- “Other seed fell among weeds, which grew up and choked the plants”.