A Stark Picture of Sin

     Recently, the owner of the property where we live contacted me about something she noticed the last time she was at the house. You see, we have several fruit trees on our property, including lemon, plum, and grapefruit, as well as, a grapevine and a sugar cane plant; but the most splendid of all the trees is a gorgeous orange tree with the best oranges that we have ever tasted. We have shared them with others and the consensus is that these are some of the most flavorful and juicy oranges. So it was easy to see why the owner messaged me when she noticed that another vine-like plant seemed to be overtaking the orange tree. She asked if I could pull the overgrown vine off the orange tree, in order to save the tree. I had noticed the vine, but it seemed also to be giving some type of fruit which made me think that it was supposed to be there. She decided to send a gardener out to have a look. Meanwhile, I decided to try to pull some of the vine out of the tree.

     As you can see from the picture, my feeble efforts could only remove a little of the vine from the front of the tree, because it was massive and had woven itself throughout the trees branches. A few days later, the gardener showed up and said that the vine was just a weed that needed to be removed to save the tree. He quoted some large figure to remove the vine, and later came and removed it.

     While watching this whole process, I was impacted with the stark comparison of this ugly monster of a vine and the grim results of sin left to fester in our lives. Like sin that spreads and can affect every area of our lives, this tree's very existence was threatened by what seemed, at first, to be a common useful fruit vine. Though the vine was there when we moved in, its growth went unnoticed as we had become accustomed to its presence; just like sin that is left unconfessed and allowed to have its reign, it subtly entrenches itself in every aspect of our lives. This vine had become so large that it had to be painfully removed. Its base had grown to the point that it was nearly the same size as the healthy plant and actually had to be cut down.

     What was left after the intrusive vine was cut down? Well, the effect of the weed on the orange tree was that the overall tree was affected. The vine was so invasive that many of the tree's leaves were being destroyed, because the sun could not get through to the tree; in much the same way we feel that separation from God when we sin.  Also, because it is a plant, and it depends on the sun to make its food, everything that the tree needed to do its job of bearing fruit, was put in jeopardy. 

     Now that the vine has been removed, the tree will take a season or two to heal and to produce in the same way that it has produced in the past. The foliage, which in the past was lush and full, is now scant; and the fruit, which was plentiful, is now sparse. The orange tree is truly "gutted" and the vine had started to latch onto the nearby grapevine that had to be cleansed of this unwanted growth—a lot could be said here about how our sin affects others, but you get the picture.

     Paul tells us in Romans 6:12, "Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should not obey the lusts thereof." If you do let sin "reign in your mortal body" you can expect the same results as this orange tree —a life being taken over by sin, a separation from God, a hinderance to fruit production, a painful repentance, a long road to healing (although His forgiveness is immediate and full, the effects of the sin will live on), and last, but not least, a possibility of affecting others with your sin. Paul sums it up well when he writes, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."(Romans 6:22)