"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed...Some fell on rocky places where it didn't have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root...Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times." Mark 4: 3, 5, 6, 8
When it comes to gardening, I am a plop-and-hope sort of gardener. So, when I received some milkweed seeds, I sowed them in the front garden next to our butterfly bush without bothering to investigate their lifestyle. Visions of grateful butterflies flocking to our yard filled my daydreams as I anxiously awaited results.
Fast-forward one year, when those pesky plants have so prolifically suffocated all else in that garden, and witness my daydreams turning into a nightmare. The hale and hearty stalks resemble a troop of Union soldiers marching against the Old South - always more and more of them in rank and file.
Though I have furiously dug them up by their roots, those telltale green shoots persevere regardless, so I have been spraying them with RoundUp. Even so, they do not surrender!
After reading the Parable of the Sower, I have come to view my milkweed army in a different light. After all, I planted them in good soil where their root system took hold like an underground bunker; they are only doing what God created them to do. At my hands, they have tolerated my unloving behavior, suffered persecution at the tip of my shovel and even survived the lethal spray of weed killer.
As a Christian, I should follow their example, especially considering the waves of persecution which can be seen on the global horizon. Am I firmly rooted and grounded in Christ alone, built up and strengthened in the faith? Or will I wither at the first sign of heat? Do I boast in the glory of my resurrected Savior in hopes of winning souls for Christ, thereby producing a multiplying crop? Or have I permitted thorns and briars to choke my efforts?
Maybe I will wave the white flag and just learn to appreciate the perseverance of the milkweed. They have the right idea after all.
"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12
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