CONSIDER THE DEVIL'S WALKING STICK
by Julie Lavender
My early morning walk took me past a small stream, and just on the other side, I noticed the prickly-stemmed Devil’s walking stick standing resolute and firm in the bright sunshine.
by Julie Lavender
My early morning walk took me past a small stream, and just on the other side, I noticed the prickly-stemmed Devil’s walking stick standing resolute and firm in the bright sunshine.
Named aptly for the sharp, menacing spines all along the
trunk, the Devil’s walking stick is a shrub or small tree that grows native in
the southeastern United States. Armed with unforgiving prickles on the trunk,
the upper portion offers green leaves, late-summer flowers, and juicy black
berries.
Surprisingly, deer will sometimes snack on the outside tips of succulent, green leaves – only the outside nibbles contain no prickles, as the base of the leaves have sharp spines, too, like the trunk.
Hummingbirds and insects love the flowers, and the berries attract songbirds, small mammals, and larger ones like raccoons, opossums, and foxes.
In other words, God gave the Devil’s walking stick many good properties, but covered it with thorns and prickles, too, quite possibly to prevent it from being totally decimated by hungry critters.
My husband keeps fighting with a couple of them in our back yard. He removes one, only to find another nearby that grew from an underground sprout of the first one. Or, one fairly close, but too far for a sprout to be the culprit – more likely a berry dropped from a bird’s mouth.
The Devil’s walking stick needs no care in order to prosper; in fact, it seems to thrive on neglect.
Reminds me of those pesky,
prickly “little” sins that I
ignore in my life.
* Nagging comments to my hard-working husband at the end of the day.
* Annoyance at the new cashier that results in sharp retorts.
* A bitter thought about a friend’s unkind words.
* Gossip veiled as a “prayer request.”
Those so-deemed-by-me “little” sins seem to flourish from my neglect and grow into larger thorns and spines that wound and inflict pain. And, if I don’t find a way to deal with them immediately, then they just keep multiplying and eventually grow into an impenetrable thicket of treacherous stalks around my heart.
God gave me a wealth of good qualities, but if I can’t rid myself of the prickly spines and thorny sins, then others around me can’t see His beauty and fruit. And that’s certainly not what I want, nor what God intends, for my life. I mean, after all – it was MY sinful thorns that pierced my Savior’s brow that day on the cross and inflicted much pain and grief.
THORNS AND SNARES ARE IN THE WAY OF THE PERVERSE; HE WHO
GUARDS HIS SOUL WILL BE FAR FROM THEM. Proverbs 22:5 NKJV
God, please forgive me for sins and thorns that I ignore, the ones that Jesus didn’t neglect and wore on his brow for me. Help me remove them completely from my life, so that others may see evidence of the fruit of the Spirit and Your abounding glory. Amen.
What about you? Are there prickles and thorns that you need to prune, in order for God’s beauty to be more evident?
I can only add an "Amen" Ms. Julie. I don't know that we have any "Devil's Walking Sticks" here in Texas, but we sure do have Locust trees that can do a number on us. I learned about them the first year we started the ranch. It was easy to spot the large ones in the fenceline with four-inch thorns. The one that made me cry thinking of them piercing my Savior's flesh. It all the "runners", the ones that grow from them all throughout the pasture that came from the large tree's root system that baffled me. They started out a small plant, hidden among the others. Then, is just weeks, they sprout thorns and begin to interweave themselves and choke out the other plants. I learned that if you just cut them down, they come up more abundantly elsewhere. To rid them, you had to treat the roots. Oh so much like sins in our lives my friend; we must treat the roots of our sins to rid ourselves of them. And we need help to do so. In the same way we need Christ to help rid ourselves of sin. Well said ma'am.
ReplyDeleteWOW - what a great analogy, J.D.!!! We absolutely MUST get to the roots of our sins and problems that are causing the outgrowth of sharp thorns that poke and harm! (Four inch thorns? Yikes - and, how heart-wrenching to know my thorns pressed into my Savior's brow!)
DeleteOh my we have bramble bushes here where I live and I can relate like you won't believe. Just like JD commented, if you try to cut them down they pop up elsewhere. If you don't pull them up by the roots, you will never get rid of them. The parallel to the Christian walk can be easily seen. Just go to God and deal with the sin. If we don't, sin will definitely find a way to raise its head again. Amen and thank you for posting Julie.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy for me to just try to rid of the thorns that others see, Nathan, and not get to the root of my bitterness or anger or sin issue that's causing those prickles!! That root excavating sometimes hurts more! And that's exactly what I need to do!
DeleteDefinitely some prickles and turns I need to prune. Hubby and I had an unexpected move recently. We are still unpacking boxes and giving things away. This has been a stressful two weeks filled with prickles and thorns. Yet, through all that mess, God has shown His presence in many ways. We have wonderful new neighbors, beautiful trees out back and lots of hummingbirds(my favorite). :-) I am trading those prickles and thorns for joy. :-)
ReplyDeleteWow, Melissa - what an awesome attitude to have in this unexpected move!! I'm glad you've been able to feel his presence, which is giving you that joyful attitude! May God bless you exceedingly and abundantly in your new home in all the days to come!!!
DeleteSo much truth can come to us from nature. That plant is a great example of how those thorns of sin can keep prickling at us. Small or large they are still thorns! Thanks, Julie.
ReplyDeleteLove this, Barbara - small or large, they are still thorns! A thorn by any other name .... Small prickles or large prickles - they still harm and cause others (and me) pain and grief! Thanks for the comment!
DeleteOh, my goodness, Julie! I can't be so prideful to believe that you wrote this just to me, but the shoe (or should I say "thorn" sure fits). You are absolutely right in that the so called "little" sins blossom into weeds nearly impossible to kill and they spread throughout our lives. And, the saddest part, they smother out the good qualities we have. Thanks for the reminder to get rid of those evil weeds (bad habits) just as they sprout.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, funny how I often feel that the preacher from the pulpit or DJ on the radio or speaker at the conference is speaking to me and me alone!!! Those little sins, left to grow and fester in my life, get really hard to prune when I let them get out of hand! Thanks so much for your sweet words!!!
DeleteJulie, I hate to think people might miss seeing the beauty of Christ because my prickly thorns mask His glory! Oh, Lord, prune my heart and shine through!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful post and photos.
Peace and grace,
Tammy
I completely agree, Tammy, and I, sadly, know that on a "bad day," that's just exactly what I let happen - my thorns mask His glory and others don't see Christ in me! It's something I'm working on constantly, and I do want HIM to shine from my heart for sure!! Thank you for your sweet comment!!
ReplyDelete