Weeds of Greed

5 tons of river rock, 50 bags of cedar mulch, three gallons of pre-emergent herbicide and at least 3 trips to the city compost pile. Dick has a new passion in retirement.  He has been fully retired now for about 30 days and he has accepted a new challenge, a new mission, a new enemy to conquer.  He has taken on the landscaping of our yard with the opposition being weeds.  We have not been diligent in our battle against the weeds in the last several years so it appeared the enemy, the weeds,  had already won.  But 30 days later, I see Dick's victory over the weeds on the horizon!

The heading some fellow gave Deuteronomy 23:15-25 in my translation is again "Miscellaneous Laws". God warned not to oppress a runaway slave;  Don't be a prostitute nor use a prostitute's wage to pay a vow;  Don't charge your brother interest, a foreigner can pay you interest but not another Israelite; Don't be slow to pay a vow made to God; and Don't harvest the crops of your neighbor.

Yet when I read them this week, I saw a common warning God gave to the Israelites.  I noted that these verses warn about wealth and the source of wealth. God identified the "weeds of greed."

These verses tell me not to benefit from another's misfortune or illegal gain.  These verses remind me to have honor and integrity in my financial matters.  It might appear to be convenient and beneficial to use another's misfortune to benefit my financial state or even to use ill-gotten wealth to give to God.  Yet, these verses warn that God knows the source and our motivation in building our own garden of wealth.

God promised the Israelites that if they would follow His ways  He would bless them in everything they put their hands to in the Promised Land.  God knows our thoughts and our frailties.  He knows we will try to build a garden of wealth for ourselves with our own plan.  He knows that if we allow the "weeds of greed" to convince us that we have a better way, our lives will be more complicated.  We too often choose the scheming and conniving way when God offers us the easiest way- His way, like just do what He says and not think of a "better way".  We are motivated by our calculation of  how much we can gain.  God's ways  promise us everything.

I plan to pull the weeds of greed in my heart and remember God is The giver of great gifts and God alone is the source of my wealth.