The Old Stump

                Summer mowing is more manageable if obstacles are removed. I mow two areas that were “chicken yards” when I was growing up. In those days, the chickens “mowed” these areas beautifully with the hens (flock of 200-500 depending upon the year) earning enough money with their eggs for the groceries to feed the six of us – my parents, my maternal grandparents, my sister, and me.

                For several years since accepting the responsibility of mowing, a few obstacles slow my mowing each time. One source of irritation has been a stump of a cedar tree with two bottomless buckets around the stump to ensure no one got “hung up” on it.

The Old Stump

                Late this summer, I decided to inspect the stump. To my surprise, two large pieces of the stump moved. With ease, I pulled them out of the protective bottomless buckets and then removed the buckets, too. Left standing was a thin section of the stump still being held in the ground by a stubborn root. I pulled and twisted on the strong splinter of the cedar stump until finally it came loose.

The small, but stubborn root is evident on the
upper right of the photo.

               As I carried the stump’s remnants to the trailer, tossing it on other brush to be hauled off, I thought of the scripture written by the writer of Hebrews about the root of bitterness. Hebrews 12:15 states: 

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

                How often a person will hold onto bitterness! The writer of Hebrews implies that a “root of bitterness” can interfere with obtaining the grace of God. Without the grace of God, we cannot receive the salvation bought by the death of Jesus on the cross for us. Grace means “getting something we do not deserve.” In no way do we deserve forgiveness, as well as being made alive when we were dead in our sins.

                Frequently, a bitter attitude is guarded or protected, almost daring any effort to remove it, just as the two old, bottomless buckets guarded the stump I mowed around. Frequently, an attack, insult or hurt looms so egregious and vicious in one’s memory.* The one offended reasons letting go of it would only let the perpetrator or offender “off the hook.”

In Romans 12:19, Paul restated a phrase from the Old Testament, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Each person must refuse to retain the root of bitterness in one’s heart but turn it over to the Lord of all justice who will get retribution for wrongs done to us and lavishly give us undeserved salvation and new life.

The Apostle Paul admonished Christians in Ephesians 4:31, Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Even after we have entered a relationship with Jesus, these temptations can creep into our lives and impede our growth. We must allow the Lord to remove these evil tendencies from us. Just as I removed the stump that interfered with the mowing and made the task so much easier, so allowing our loving Savior to deal with these troublesome areas brings productivity, peace and contentment to our lives.

The spot soon after the stump was removed. Grass
has begun to grow back since this photo. 

* Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's renowned Commentary on the Whole Bible explains that "root of bitterness"  is a person, a principle, a doctrine or a practice "so radically corrupt as to spread corruption all around."  My personal comment - Bitterness never affects only one person. In the same way, as a "bitter" principle, doctrine or practice has ever-widening circles of infectiveness so does a person bitter over an offense negatively impact almost anyone they contact.