Why Bother To Ask?

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then, the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasure, and they do not mature. The seed on the good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the words, retain it, and by preserving produce a good crop.” Luke 8:4-15 (NIV)

I posted several months ago that I was swearing off Roundup, and I have kept that promise and not used the chemical which some have equated to Agent Orange in its toxicity. However, the weeds in the horse pasture were starting to take over, and I needed some remedy to save what little grass was left. I took a sampling of the weeds to our local agricultural chemical company. It turns out that they were a mix of broadleaf weeds, and the salesman told me about a chemical to use that would kill the weeds, but leave the grass untouched. It was called most appropriately, “Weedmaster,” and is priced a third of the cost of Roundup. I bought a couple of gallons along with the surfactant (a chemical that makes the herbicide stick to the leaves) that I naively agreed to buy. My neighbor later told me dish soap is equally effective. We have been waiting for a weekend day without a deluge of rain and finally got the right weather this afternoon. Husband decided to borrow our neighbor’s tractor and tank sprayer and then, asked me to come out to the pasture to “tell him where to go.” Wow, what an opportunity! I have been waiting a long time to tell my husband where to go! Just kidding, but what woman hasn’t dreamed at some time in her marriage for the chance to give her husband direction and have him follow orders! What my husband was actually asking me to do was help him mark his path so he would not miss treating the entire pasture. I took my wide brim hat and a chair out to the pasture and watched as he started down his first row. As he turned, I waved my arms motioning him to move closer to his original path overlapping just a bit. But, he ignored me and kept his course. When he came back my way, I hollered at him to get over. He acknowledged that he heard me and even added that he couldn’t see the ground ahead of him for the sprayer in the front and then, went right back to going his own way. I ran after him, motioning for him to get over. He did a little, but not really far enough. After a couple of tries, I finally gave up and sat down in my chair. The rest of the time consisted of him riding in circles around me as I watched him go his own way. Why did he even bother to ask me for help? There were several spots he missed that he had to go back over before he was done. How often do we do the same with God? We pray and ask for his guidance and when the answer comes decide to go our own way anyhow. I bet I end up with weeds in my pasture despite the afternoon’s efforts. When I ignore God’s will, weeds sprout in my life as well.