Weeds of the Heart
June 4, 2002 • By Ed Wrather
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. - Luke 6:45.
The Fire Department in Denver, Colorado received a strange emergency call from the nearby city of Montbello. The woman who called claimed to be trapped in her home by tumbleweeds that had filled up her yard, jamming against the house. Not only did they fill up her yard they had risen to a height of 16 feet. A spokesman for the Fire Department said there were “thousands” in the woman’s yard.
We have to wonder at what point did the woman in Montbello decide to call for help. Most likely, the tumbleweeds piled up over a period of several hours or even days. She apparently waited until the situation was completely out of control. However, the important thing to note is that she did finally ask for help.
When the weeds of bad thoughts, evil thoughts, impure thoughts are piling up in our heart at what point do we ask for help? At what point do we decide that instead of constantly imputing thoughts that are damaging, we instead store up thoughts that are good? Do we wait until they have piled up to such a point that we are trapped? Do we wait until out of our mouths are coming hateful evil relationship damaging words? Do we wait until we are unable to make a good decision because our hearts are so polluted with evil?
We must be aggressive in controlling those weeds of evil thoughts, or they will quickly overrun and ruin our lives. In Proverbs 4:23 we are told to “keep” our hearts or “guard” our hearts. We must filter or bring into subjection every thought, everything that enters our lives. The Bible tells us how to do that in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strong holds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” In the Name of Jesus, we must take captive, take control of every thought, everything that enters our lives. If those thoughts are evil, we must take them captive in the Name of Jesus protecting our hearts from those evil weeds.
Not only must we guard our hearts and avoid the pollution of our lives from evil, but we should also at the same time fill our lives with good. The Bible tells us how to do that in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
We must not wait until we are trapped and even destroyed by the weeds of the world. Guard your heart, take captive the evil in the Name of Jesus, and fill your heart with all the good things of God.