Roots and All

Read: Romans 6:11-14 James looked up from his job of pulling dandelions as his friend Alex pedaled his bike up the driveway. “Hey,” called Alex. “Let’s go to the splash pad at the park.” “Can’t,” James replied. “My mom says she’s sick of seeing yellow dandelions instead of green grass, and I have to get rid of them.” He held up the tool he was using. “I work around the plant with this so I can pull out the whole root—and they sure go deep!” He wiped his brow with a dirty hand. “It’s really hot too.” “Yeah,” said Alex. “Too hot to do it that way. Why not just cut the tops off? Here, I’ll help you. Then we can go cool off.” “Okay,” James said. The boys soon finished the job and were off to the park. Several times in the next few weeks, the dandelions sprouted back up and Mom sent James out to pull them again. Each time, he simply cut off the tops. One day Mom came out to talk to him. “I didn’t understand why we kept getting so many dandelions, but now I see the problem. You aren’t pulling them up by the roots the way I showed you.” “Oh,” said James, looking at the weeds in his hand. “I didn’t think it mattered as long as you couldn’t see them.” “But it does matter,” said Mom. “If the roots are still in the ground, the dandelions grow right back. You have to get rid of the whole thing—roots and all.” That evening, Dad heard about the returning dandelions. “That’s a good example of the way we sometimes treat sin in our lives,” he said. “If it isn’t seen by other people, we often think it doesn’t matter. But just because it isn’t visible to everyone else doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful. No matter how much we try to cover it up, it will keep popping back up in our lives, hurting us and others.” Dad looked at James. “Do you know how to root out sin instead of just trying to hide it?” James nodded. “We need Jesus.” “That’s right,” said Dad. “We need to confess any wrongs we’re trying to hide and remember that because Jesus has saved us and given us new life, sin has no power over us.” –A. W. Smith How about you? Is there a sin in your life you’re trying to keep covered so others won’t see it? No matter how you try to hide it, it will keep popping back up. It needs to be pulled up by the roots, and the only way to do that is to stop trying to hide it and remember that through Jesus you have the power to turn from sin. Trust Him to help you let go of sinful habits and live the new life He’s given you. Today’s key verse: Consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 (NLT) Today’s key thought: Root out sin