by I thought it would be fun to have a new Garden Analogy. Let us consider those obnoxious weeds or plants in the garden.
Roots. Those stubborn roots. Whether it be a prized shrub, tree or weed, roots can cause a gardener much heartache.
Characteristics of roots:
- They give the plant nourishment
- Sometimes they go deep
- Sometimes they are shallow and spread out wide
- They can be difficult to get fully out of the ground
- Many roots will grow a new plant/weed if just the smallest piece of root is left in the soil
We have all experienced, at some time or another, the difficulty of eliminating certain weeds or obnoxious plants. Of course, the problem is not really the plant or tree. Just cut it off and the plant is gone. What is the real problem? The roots! Eradicating the roots is the real problem any gardener faces at one time or another.
I never really had the issue with obnoxious plants in the US. With harsh, freezing winters and scorching summers, plants cannot really grow out of control too often. Except for Ivies and Kudzu (thanks Japan).
But, since I have lived in New Zealand for 11 years now; because of all the rain and moderate climate, there are even certain plants (not necessarily weeds) that can become obnoxious and take over a garden very quickly if one is not cautious. Roots can spread quickly, in all directions.
I have also learned that one person may like a certain plant that fully takes over a garden, but another person may think, “That is an obnoxious plant. I do not want that.”
I have been on both sides of the above mentioned aggressive growing plants. For example, I have a lovely low growing purple wisteria. It is not a vine, but the part that would be the vine is underground as the root system and about every 12” a new branch grows up out of the ground. Each branch out of the ground grows about 18-24” tall. Thinking of the root system as a vine you can see how difficult it would be to fully eradicate this purple wisteria variety. If just one small piece is left, “Yes, another plant starts to grow.”
This lovely plant is in my gardens and I love it! I have huge gardens and it is taking over, just like I want. I do not have to plant and weed the gardens it is growing in, because it usually chokes out most other things. Yippie. However, I was giving some of this wisteria away recently and a friend of mine said, “I do not want that, I have just spent a long time trying to rip it all out of my garden. I think I got all the wisteria roots; it is so obnoxious.”
I have also been the one who does not want certain plants/weeds in my garden. For example, when I lived in the states, we had yellow buttercups growing. Yes, they are weeds, but in the States, they didn’t grow big and take over. They were cute little buttercups. What harm can a buttercup cause? When I moved to New Zealand, the same friend mentioned above came to my house and ripped out a piece of yellow buttercups. She said, “You do not want that, it will take over your garden.”
I was not familiar with NZ gardens and climate yet, so I thought, “I like that. Who does she think she is?” So, I left some
buttercups to grow in my garden. “Wow! Was that a big mistake. I should have listened to my friend.”
Those yellow buttercups, I am still fighting in my garden today, years later, and I cannot get rid of them. They have a unique rooting system that kind of sneaks up on you and they are virtually impossible to fully eradicate from a garden.
The mother plant grows low to the ground, all pretty and small with its yellow flowers. Then, a long sprout grows up and tall from the middle of the mother plant, the sprout gets longer and longer until it is so long it bends down and touches the ground about 12-18” away from the mother plant. “Yes, you guessed it.” When it touches the ground the roots quickly go deep into the soil and starts another buttercup weed. Then the cycle continues and continues until all that is in the garden is buttercup weeds. Since the roots go deep, they are very difficult to get fully out. If just one small piece is left, it still grows a new buttercup plant.
“How does all this relate to our Christian walk?”
As I read my Bible recently, I came across the commonly known verse on the root of bitterness.
This got me thinking about roots and the question, “I wonder if God has other roots in the Bible?” Guess what? “He does.” He mentions good and bad roots just like the examples in my garden.
The word root comes up 44 times in the KJV Bible. I just want to share a few verses with you. I am not going to go into depth on them. I believe the verses are pretty much self-explanatory. Just read about them, study them, and ask yourself “What kind of roots am I growing in my life? Am I growing good roots (like the root of righteousness) that people want to see and be around or am I growing bad roots (like the root of bitterness and evilness) and distancing others from myself?”
Some Bible roots:
Root of Bitterness –
Hebrews 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”
Root of all Evil –
I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Root of Gall and Wormwood –
Deuteronomy 29:18 “Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;”
Definition from Websters 1828:
Wormwood – “A plant, the artemisia. It has a bitter nauseous taste;”
Gall – “In the animal economy, the bile, a bitter, a yellowish green fluid, secreted in the glandular substance of the liver. Anything extremely bitter; malignity; anger; bitterness of mind.”
Root of the Righteous –
Proverbs 12:3+12, “A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.” 12 “The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.”
Prov 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”
Root of the trees –
Luke 3:9 “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
