Wisteria Lane

At the age of a little over a quarter of a century, I have learned something… the entire world lives on Wisteria Lane.

No, I’m not talking about the desperate housewives version, or the street name that inevitably is probably at least in every state once (*and I have done no research to back that up*). I’m talking about serious stuff here. But let me back up a minute.

So my husband and I were on the road, and we passed a gorgeous lavender purple tree, or what I thought was one at least.  Kev pointed and made the comment “Hey look, wisteria! I love wisteria. My grandfather hated it because it kills other trees”. So here I am thinking this is a tree that the roots somehow kill other trees. We continue driving and pass some more purple. This time, though, we were closer than before. I could clearly see that this wisteria was in vine form and had begun circling around the base of a large tree. I turned to Kev and said “ohh! I didn’t realize wisteria was a vine… that means it had encompassed that entire tree back there before this one… that’s crazy! I just thought it was a purple tree”.

And then, as I was saying that, I realized…that is what our world is like. Whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not, the truth is still the same in that there IS spiritual warfare every day, where Satan can and does use others to make this earthly world a worse place; and a lot of the time, the way he does that is by masquerading things to look the entire opposite of what they actually are. Satan makes the worldly things look really good. If we could just have more money, or if we could buy that car, or remodel our home, or buy new clothes that make us look and feel great…none of those things are bad in and of themselves but when those passions and desires of the world override us… when they don’t come from Christ-centered roots… or even if they do start that way, but then we lose focus and they become our obsession instead.. they slowly climb up the trunk and over time choke the life out of all that is growing. Believers AND non-believers are at risk for what I am describing right now.

John Piper (https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/why-do-we-need-preaching) had a sermon on this just this morning. He referenced 2 Timothy 4:3-4, which says “3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” The way he broke this down was 1.) people have their own passions and desires. Because of these desires, 2.) their ears tickled for something that aligned with what they wanted so then they 3.) turned away from the truth to their own passions and subsequently 4.) gathered for themselves teachers who taught those things in accordance to their passions and therefore 5.) Truth was replaced by myths.

This is why it is so important for us to be firmly rooted in Christ. This is why it is so important to “2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with [a]great patience and instruction…  5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:2,5).

God is calling us to do ministry. To focus on Christ. To reveal Satan’s lies of twisted perception. To even reveal that we as Christ followers can and do fall for the lies when we are not deeply rooted in Christ as we should be. God is calling us to reveal the truth and the truth IS absolute. But to reveal the truth, we must first speak. “14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who [a]bring the good news of the gospel!”(Romans 10:14-15).

The problem is that the world doesn’t know it’s being choked by the deadly vines of sin….

All the world can see is a pretty purple tree. And It is up to God to open their hearts, BUT it is up to us to open our mouths and tell them.

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" -John Piper