Last year we bought a new rose, it will be a climbing rose in a lovely pink. I dream of having a lattice arch with roses growing over it in my future garden. . . with a bench for quiet times.
The ivy, though lovely in some places is a mighty weed. It grows over and about anything in its path. Today I rescued my rose from the clutches of this ivy. The ivy had so encircled itself around my rose, time and again that I had to literally unwind the ivy from the rose. This rose is very small, and yet the ivy was taking advantage of it and using it and overwhelming it.
This reminded me of sin. We are like my puny little rose, we hold great potential for loveliness. But the sins and temptations of life are like the ivy. They ivy is lovely in its own domain and sin appears so as well. But sin also seeks to encircle us and take the life from us, covering us and devouring us.
James 1:12-15
12How blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor's crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him. 13When someone is tempted, he should not say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. 14Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. 15When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.
