Stinkweed or Barley?

[Job speaking] “’Oh that I had one to hear me!  Behold here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me!  And the indictment which my adversary has written, surely I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it to myself like a crown.  I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach Him.

“’If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; If I have eaten its fruit without money, or have caused its owners to lose their lives, let briars grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.’  The words of Job are ended.” Job 31:35-40

Sin is like stinkweed in our lives.  Stinkweed or ‘Thlaspi arvense’ has many common names, such as pennygrass, fanweed, Frenchweed.  The leaves have lots of fine hair and the plant is covered with a sticky substance. 

It serves as host to other pests and weeds and if cows eat it, the milk tastes awful.  It can even be toxic to livestock.  It grows hidden amongst other plants and has a very bad smell. 

It has been used as medicine or in pest control and is hardy and prolific once it gets hold in a field.  It can withstand hard frosts in the spring and midseason droughts and still manage to produce up to 15,000 seeds each season. 

The seeds are even tougher than the plants, with heavy seed coats that can remain hidden in the soil ready to spring up for up to seven years and if they are deeply buried can last 20 years or more.

When I thought about this factual description of stinkweed, it really is a good description of sin in our lives.  Therefore, using ‘Spiritual Soap’ (I John 1:9-11) the minute you discover a seed or recognise a fledgling stinkweed plant growing in ‘your barley field’ it is critical to eradicate it!

Take care with love, especially His, from Darlene, who still prays for you each day.