Weevils and Sin

Most of those familiar with the cotton industry are also familiar with the Boll Weevil. The Boll Weevil is an insect that feeds on cotton bolls and can devastate a cotton crop. The Weevil entered the US from Mexico about 1892 and by the year 1920 had devastated cotton crops all over the USA.

In fact the Boll Weevils decimation of crops in the south was the primary reason for poor farmers leaving their lands and moving to northern cities.

Today Boll Weevils have been eradicated in nearly all of the USA and it happened in large part because of understanding the life cycle of the Boll Weevil.

There are three main elements in the eradication of the Boll Weevil…

- Plowing of the fields after harvest to reduce habitat for the weevil.

- Selective and planned herbicide use

- Reduction of Weevil populations by Pheromone baited traps.

The Boll Weevil kind of reminds me of sin in God’s cotton field. Sin, uncontrolled and rampant, can ruin God’s harvest of souls. What to do… oh what to do?

- First of all God gave us Jesus Christ to save us from our own sins. His all-powerful blood is like the strongest of insecticides to totally eliminate the impact of sin in our lives.

- Then God identified the life cycle of sin. So we could see clearly how it occurs. James 1:14,

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death”

- And then God gave us the courage to conquer and eradicate sin. 1 Cor. 10:13,

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”

I hope when God sends his harvesters and they come to our Parkway congregation that they step back and say…

“whew… would you look at all that cotton. This congregation understood the seriousness of sin and the great price that was paid for it. They understood the pathogenesis of sin and had faith in God’s promise that they didn’t have to sin and the results speak for themselves… boys let’s start picking... the master is going to be happy today”