Pullin Up the Roots

I had a revelation yesterday about yet another area of rebellion in my life. Yes, this is beyond my previously confessed rebellion of going IN the EXIT door and OUT the ENTRANCE door. It’s another I can actually share in a public forum……

One of the things I do to relax is surf Craigslist. It’s a mindless activity that I utilize after serous brain commitment. My most frequent locations to scroll through are furniture for sale by owner, pets, (building) materials, farm & garden and recreational vehicles. I am a woman of diverse interests if nothing else!

No, I am not looking for another pet. Four hounds and seven outdoor cats is enough. Although, I do plan to finally get the Corgi puppy I have longed for over the years as a reward to myself when my Great American Novel is published. Needless to say, the hounds are not sweating having to share the evening lap space in the near future. ***sigh***

I digress, back to the rebellion revelation……

It is actually on Craigslist I became aware of this particular rebellion. You see, one of the entertaining elements for me is reading the seller’s description headlines meant to capture your attention and entice you to view the item. The more elaborate the description, the more hearty the laugh. Let’s just say beauty really is in the eye of the beholder… or seller, in this case. Whew, what were they thinking when they bought that?! But the rebellion comes into play when the ad title says, “Must See!”….I will not look at that ad for anything. I’m serious, I will NOT be told I “MUST SEE” and do it. For me, it turns from “MUST SEE” to WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT!  Geeze……….

I have to laugh at this silliness because it certainly keeps me from taking myself too seriously. It’s hard to feel all pulled together and, to use a more modern colloquialism, “all that and a bag of chips” (whatever that means) when you recognize the petty, fleshly flaws that rear an ugly head from time to time. Rebelling against an ad on Craigslist is not a sin of rebellion against God but the scary part lies beyond any form of silliness; it shows me there is a root of rebellion in me and I must constantly stand guard against it.   

At various moments and in different ways, the ‘natural man’ in all of us surfaces, and being a bit rebellious seems deceptively alluring, attractive, and harmless. We feel independent, another dangerous situation which accompanies our rebellious streak. We don’t want anyone controlling our lives and telling us what to do. We pick and choose which standards we wish to disobey and to what degree we will disobey them—a little or a lot. We’re defiant, and we know it, and we’re proud of it. We pat ourselves on the back for bending or breaking the rules just a little and getting away with it. We quiet our consciences with self-satisfying rationalizations, and we justify our unseemly behavior as benign. But is any form of disobedience or measure of rebellion safe and harmless?

Defiance, rationalization, and justification expose our human frailties. Soon, we are submitting to our will over the will of God. Safe rebellion is a lie. We cannot stand by while the lie of safe rebellion grows in the soil of self-deception until it takes over. If I’ve learned anything in the years of gardening it is that weeds and undesirables need to be pulled out by the roots. Snapping them off at the surface only makes for stronger roots that multiple the undesirables.

I doubt God cares if I look at the “MUST SEE” ads or not but I do know He cares a great deal about whether or not I am rooted in rebellion. So this is me, donning my spiritual gardening gloves, taking up arms against rebellion in my life when God reveals the area in which it is planted. Weeds never take a day off.