Pulling and Burning the Weeds

And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. 2 Chronicles 17:6

When we first bought our property, I realized that we had an overabundance of beggar’s lice – a maddening weed which produces hundreds of burs on each plant that cover your clothing when you get too close. Whoever owned the property perviously hadn’t done anything terrible. They simply didn’t do anything, allowing them to multiply. So, I spent many days that first summer pulling and burning every beggar’ lice that I found. It was a lot of work, and I ruined a lot of clothing doing it, but I honestly think that I got them all. The problem of course, is that I didn’t get all the seeds and, as weeds, they found a way. So now, when I discover a pant leg full of those burs, I’ll retrace my steps, find the offending plant, and destroy it. I know that if tolerated, beggar’s lice will multiply, something I cannot tolerate. I realize that my intolerance looks like an obsession, but I simply despise those weeds so much that I refuse to allow them a foothold on my property again.

This is what I think of when I read of The High Places in today’s passage. In the history of the kings of Israel and Judah, each king is described according to whether he followed God or not. King Asa, for instance, followed God mostly, but he didn’t remove the high places. These high places were old remnants of idol worship to which the people desperately clung. They followed God mostly, but they hung onto these little bits of their foreign gods. In today’s passage, we’re told that Jehoshaphat, King Asa’s son, courageously removed the high places. In return, God blessed him. A few chapters later though, and we read that these high places once again popped up, later during Jehoshaphat’s reign. He genuinely tried to rid his country of idol worship, but despite his efforts, like weeds, they crept back.

This is a pretty good metaphor for my life. In general, I want to follow God. Still, like the Israelites, I often allow just a little sin to remain. At my best, I eradicate these little sins, radically cleaning up my life. Just a short while later though, and I find that the sin creeps back. Maybe it doesn’t seem like a big deal. It’s just a little hateful, lustful, or resentful thought. If I tolerate it however, like a weed, it multiplies. It turns out that eradicating the beggar’s lice from my life isn’t just a once-and-done event. Rather, if I desire that my life remain free of those maddening burs, then I must continually find and destroy them. This may seem radical, but it’s what it takes to prevent a return to a life covered in those maddening burs.