Buckthorn has been a thorn in our side ever since we bought our lot seven years ago, and we have been trying to get rid of it ever since. It may look innocent, but this invasive species of foliage is a robber and a thief that came to kill and to destroy. Buckthorn robs the soil of nutrients and chokes natural plants to death. It impersonates the black choke cherry and many times the choke cherry is cut down and treated like buckthorn. Even certain species of the rose family can be mistaken for buckthorn and meet the same fate as the choke cherry. I call buckthorn a hypocrit for pretending to be something it is not and a deadly infiltrator for the havoc it causes in our woods.
And then there is the poplar/aspen tree! These obnoxious trees are a shallow-root nuisance! Another deadly infiltrator! They send out their spies all through the yard – sometimes above the surface, and sometimes sending more spies to the surface via the network of roots. “Here’s another hyprocrit,” I say, “that’s trying to look like a birch tree.” They are greedy and power-hungry and want to contol the environment for their own good pleasure.
I must not forget to mention the weeds hiding in the wheat. Just because they are allowed to mix with the wheat until harvest, they think no one will notice they are getting a free ride. They are sneaky and take advantage of their neighbors.
Another deadly infiltrator is Creeping Charlie! What a scoundrel. He hides behind a facade of green and slithers through the grass unnoticed until it thinks it has earned squatters’ rights for taking up residence far too long.
Are the buckthorn in the woods, the aspen in the yard, the weed in the wheat, and Creeping Charlie any different than the Pharisees of Jesus’ day? The Pharisees are like the thief and robber who came to kill and destroy. They obeyed their 600+ laws to help them keep the 10 commandments! As religious leaders, they burdened the people with rules and traditions to the point of exhaustion.
The Pharisees liked to stand on street corners in their pompous attire to be noticed and applauded for their ‘righteous’ behavior. They sent out members of the council to spy on Jesus to see what he was saying or doing. They plotted to kill Him for doing good, for healing on the Sabbath, for being kind to sinners, for being a threat to their religious prestige, but most of all, for claiming to be the Son of God who came to give life, and give it abundantly.
The evil infiltrators of today are permeating our churches, schools, history books, computers, TVs, and our minds. What are we to do?
We can know that evil will be in the world until the harvest. Jesus says, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We can “Put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil….Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.” (Ephesians 6:11,13)
Be encouraged! The deadly infiltrators lose in the end!