Death by Kudzu

I could hardly get to my desk.

I had to step over and through seven piles of papers.  I know seven is Your number, Lord, for Perfection and Completion.  For me, it had become the number for Perfect Chaos!

Important papers.  Projects I needed to work on, if I could just get my thoughts together. Papers I kept meaning to file, so I could find them again when I needed them.

Piles of papers.  On the floor and on my desk, too.  Not neatly organized, but jumbled together.  Using my “signature” filing system, affectionately (though regrettably) nicknamed:  “Find-Me-Not.”   🙂

Important papers.  Piles of papers.  Covering everything… like Kudzu.

Kudzu was introduced into this country in 1876.  Farmers were encouraged to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion.  It has since taken over, covering everything in its path… including whole forests.  Choking out the light.  Sucking up every nutrient for itself. Its nickname says it all:  “The Vine that Ate the South.”

As most things in “the natural” are — thanks to You, Lord — kudzu is a metaphor with deeper meaning.  For me, personally.  Sometimes Your whispers seem more like shouts!

“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”  (Ephesians 5:14)

Wake up, before the kudzu kills you… in more ways than one!  Soil erosion?  How about spirit erosion?!

I could hardly get to my keyboard.  Worse still, I could hardly get to my brain!  What was choking out The Light and sucking up Every Nutrient… right here in my office???  Clutter versus Clarity.  Confusion versus Conviction.  Distraction versus Determination. Overload versus Overcoming.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  (Psalm 51:10)

There’s only one way to get rid of kudzu.  It’s a two-pronged attack:  1) Pull it off the trees. 2)  Kill it at its root.  Yesterday, I “pulled it off” my office.  I found my desk again… and the floor around it.  Today, I’m going after the roots… with the sharpest tool I can find.

“For the Word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  (Hebrews 4:12)

“… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”  (Hebrews 12:1-2)

You, Lord.  The King of kings!  The King over kudzu!

Seeing the Light again,

Abba’s Girl

 

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