A few weeks ago as I was weeding my garden, I noticed something interesting. On one edge of our garden we planted marigolds, on the edge 90 degrees to it, we planted corn. As our plants took off and started gaining strength and growing, in the cinder block "cell" right between them two plants appeared. Originally, the kids dropped a corn seed in there, but it never came out, so for the longest time that "cell" was bare.
Now, however, to my surprise, there were two plants growing. One, closest to the marigolds, resembled the flowers in the shape of the leaves, and the other--looked exactly like a new sprout of corn.
"Huh", I thought to myself, "Perhaps, this corn seed just took longer to germinate, and a marigold seed just accidentally flew into this same cell with the wind?"
That seemed like a plausible explanation, and I let them be.
A week later, I had noticed that those two plants did not grow like marigolds and corn are supposed to. There was something different and awkward...They were green and luscious, soaking up every drop of water and a ray of sun they could, they LOOKED marvelous, and with a naked eye, you wouldn't even tell that they indeed were WEEDS.
"You almost tricked me, guys", I might have said out loud to them.
Even though I knew they were weeds, I let them grow.
I thought "Well, maybe they'll bloom with some pretty flowers and be of benefit that way?"
But no...there were no blooms and no pretty flowers...There was just more and more weeds. They grew tall. They grew strong. Now you could clearly see what they are. And it's painful to see those huge weeds in my garden...They don't belong. They are fake. They are done.
2 Peter 2:2-3 (NIV)
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. [2] Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. [3] In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
And it dawned on me: this exactly how the false teachers are! Like the weeds, who pretend to be beneficial and good, but in the end they bare no fruit and hold no value. They are pretentious. They give you a false sense of hope. They look luscious and strong, yet they are nothing but fake wannabes...
I pulled the weeds out.
I don't want them to compromise the purity and genuineness of our garden. Even though I know they are just weeds, I want them out of my sight and mind. I don't to want to give them any chances to spread their destructive seeds in our garden. Adios, fake amigos. Your place is down there on the ground...to dry out and be thrown away.
It always amazes me how God can show us the truth in the simplest ways...
