Weeding the Compost Pile

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We keep a compost pile where we dump our food scraps each day. We mix in leaves from the yard and a little dirt, stir it around periodically, ensure that it stays damp, usually from the rain, and wait for nature to run its course. The result is rich soil that we can use in flower pots and flower beds. Along the way, opossums and raccoons get some nighttime snacks, a few potatoes grow from the scraps, and other interesting things happen. Overall, the compost pile is a great addition to our yard.

Until the weeds started.

I noticed them right before I left on a trip. They were bright green, and there were just a few of them. I thought, “I should go pull those before I go,” but I was rushing to get everything else done. Weeding didn’t happen.

Two weeks passed. I came home to a mountain of weeds that covered the entire compost pile. I am not exaggerating. It was a mountain. I couldn’t see the dirt.

What began as a few scraggly weeds took over a healthy compost pile in just a couple of weeks. How did that happen?

Weeds spread. Rapidly. Faster than you would ever guess.

It happens in my life, too.

I can be growing spiritually, reading my Bible, praying. God may convict me of a habit or a sin that doesn’t seem like much to me, and I think, “Hmmm, I’ll tend to that in a few days when I’m not so stressed or rushed. Just can’t think about it now, Lord.” And I leave that weed alone.

I forget that weeds grow …and spread …rapidly. Faster than you would ever guess.

A few weeks go by, and I find that I am not quite as ready to read my Bible and pray.  “Not to worry,” I think. I go on. My spiritual life lags, and I wonder why.

If I could visualize my life at that time, it would probably look like that weed covered compost pile, totally enclosed by growing green weeds with no healthy dirt in sight. The sin that I let left alone spread and stifled the health of my relationship with my Lord.

Back to the Compost Pile

When I got home and saw the compost pile, there was only one remedy to fix the weed problem.  I put on gloves, got out there and pulled up the weeds, and discarded them where they could be destroyed. I couldn’t allow them to continue to grow.

Now, you may wonder why weeds in a compost pile matter. It’s because the dirt in that pile will eventually end up in flower beds all over the yard. If there are weeds in that dirt, they will spread wherever that dirt is spread. That is a big problem.

My Heart

Sin in my heart affects everything I do. If I allow it to fester and grow, it will eventually taint my attitudes and actions. Just like I had to pull the weeds out of the compost pile, the sin in my heart must be dealt with as well. There is also only one remedy when sin begins to grow. It is found in I John 1:9.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The good news is, God is ready and able to forgive and cleanse me when I go to Him with my sin.

I love my compost pile. It provides great soil for my plants, and it reminds me to allow the  Lord to keep my heart clean and healthy, too.

“ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, KJV).

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Father, too often I allow things to build up in my heart. Too often, I let sin slip in. Pull out the weeds, Lord. Till the soil of my heart until it can be used to grow good fruit for You. Remove the seeds of pride and self, thoughtlessness and ingratitude, complaint and waste, resentment and anxiety. Let my every moment be lived for You, for You alone deserve my every moment. May Your glory shine. In Jesus’ name I pray.

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Think About It:

• When was the last time you ask God to do some weeding in your heart?