Before I sat down and wrote up the bulletin today I did a few errands, one of which was spraying some weed killer on the gravel portion of my driveway. Every year the boogers grow over a portion of it, and every year I beat them back. I know it's almost a futile battle but I wage it anyway, practicing better living through chemistry.

You might wonder where's the justice? After all, the weeds were there first! They are what naturally sprout up, and are simply trying to reclaim their rightful place. We all know they are tough to kill, too. Paul and Brian used a front end loader to dig out that portion of my horseshoe drive, and the weeds were scraped away. What weeds that got left behind were battered and crushed by a few tons of yellow CAT rolling back and forth over them. Then they were buried under about 4-6 inches of gravel road base. So you would think they'd give up never to return, but they sneak in there when you aren't paying attention. It really isn't a big surprise, my driveway is surrounded by weeds on all sides so naturally they tend to bleed over into the gravel, especially on the edges where their little runners make headway. All it seems to take is that first batch to get a root going and they bring along a lot of "friends" which I don't care for. I mean, at first it's those semi-pretty yellow flowered wild strawberry looking things, which at first I might let alone because they aren't too intrusive and aren't too ugly. But behold their crab grass cousins get in there and I am yanking up two inches of road base to get the roots out all the way down. How did this happen?

We all complain about the weeds in our yards, too. It's kind of funny - here's this chunk of land that used to have no issues and no complaints, and then we bring in these foreigners (grass!) and try to push out the entrenched stuff that was there to begin with. If we are very diligent and keep after it we win, but just let it go for a summer and the yard can get so choked full of weeds we almost want to roto-til the top under and put down all new seed or even just bring in new sod to start over with. For my gravel, I spray weed killer, hope I don't get it too close to the roots of any of Deniese's trees or flowers, and watch them shrivel and die with satisfaction (only to see them try to reappear down the road a ways)

The world is like that, in a sense, and *we* are the invaders! Left to its own, the world is very happy letting sin run rampant. But the word is powerful, and can change the hearts of men and the lives folks lead. Soon those weeds, sin, are washed away and crushed by the zeal and joy of a new Christian life. Yet the seeds are always there hoping to sprout, and will if you aren't paying attention. It's not too hard for them sometimes, after all they were there first and they often fit right into the familiar habits a person is comfortable with. Maybe they aren't even all that ugly on the surface, a little bit of nostalgia for something given up when giving a life to God's service. Something that's "cute" and we wink at. But even these things lead to other sins that aren't so cute and we find ourselves in an unexpected struggle with sin. And how did that happen?

Maybe we wonder if we're not doing this all wrong. After all, as I said, *we* are the invaders here, and maybe our friends make us feel that way in an unforgiving manner. We're the ones that changed. It's hard to get the seeds of sin out of our hearts, and being surrounded by sinful people doesn't help a bit! We don't want to seem harsh and maybe consider a compromise here and there, allowing only little runners to slip in. They're harmless right? But then they take root, and we're right back where we started. Brethren, the bible is weed killer. Use it and clear your paths. This world and all its weeds will one day burn up. Finally I will be rid of these weeds! I win! And I'm not talking about the organic ones, either. Think about it!

Randy