This is National Weed Day.

What is “National Weed Day”? Do you think it was established to honor weeds? Perhaps the person who named this day wanted to remind us to be aware of weeds and to get rid of them. Whatever the case, let’s talk about weeds.

If you’ve ever had a garden or lawn, you know how frustrating weeds can be. They grow fast and thick and can choke out the flowers, grass, or vegetables that you want to grow. If you wait too long, the seeds hit the wind, and soon you have hundreds more weeds to deal with. And they’re almost impossible to eliminate. You keep pulling them, but soon they’re back, like a monster in a bad horror movie.

Gardeners and other plant experts explain that the secret to getting rid of weeds is to attack their roots. In fact, most weeds will spring from even a part of a root left in the ground. That’s why pulling them isn’t always effective. We need to use special sprays and other treatments.

Weeds can grow in our lives as well. When Jesus told the parable of the sower and seeds, he explained that as seeds fall on thorny ground, “all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced” (Matthew 13:22). So if we want to grow in our faith and be productive for Christ, we need to beware of weeds.

Today’s verse carries this a step further. It says that we also should help keep weeds out of the lives of other believers. And one of the worst is the weed of unbelief.

How’s your life garden doing? How about your Christian friends? Ask God to help you blast those roots.

Look after each other so that none of you will miss out on the special favor of God. Watch out that no bitter root of unbelief rises up among you, for whenever it springs up, many are corrupted by its poison (Hebrews 12:15).

To Do

Ask your mom or dad if you can help get rid of weeds in the garden. After they get over the shock of your question and answer “yes,” get the weed-killing spray and go to it. And each time you spray, pray! Ask God to remove any roots of sin in your life.

Also on this day . . .

1841—In Philadelphia, PA, Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” was published in Graham’s Magazine. It is considered the first detective story.

1879—The first mobile home (horse drawn) was used in a journey from London.

1934—The movie “Stand Up And Cheer” opened. It was child star Shirley Temple’s debut.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.