Carole Mitchell Dowell
Man is frequently deceived by outward appearance, whether the appearance is of a person, animal, plant, or something else. The outward appearance of a common weed, the Spanish needle, is a good example. It is very much like the devil: beautiful to look upon, but treacherous when it comes into contact with you.
In traveling about in the autumn, we see great fields of these lovely yellow flowers along the highways brightening the way. Our hearts are lifted by their beauty, and we want to walk among them; to stop and pick a bouquet to brighten our homes; or to flop down full-length in the midst of them in order to better absorb their beauty. When the blooms first open and are not in their most glorious full-bloom, this may be possible. We can walk among them, touch them, and smell them with no adverse effects. The plant is just like Satan when he is setting us up. We admire his beauty in the temptation he is arranging, and he is very careful that we detect none of his deceitfulness.
The Spanish needle matures, the blossoms grow larger and deeper gold, and the center, or heart, darkens. Many times it is mistaken for the innocent black-eyed Susan, but black-eyed Susans have a solid, cushiony center, whereas Spanish needles have a center of dark, individual needles.
Satan’s temptation, too, matures, grows larger, and draws us toward his dark heart full of dangerous darts. His temptation can be mistaken for an innocent enjoyable activity at first.
If we wander into a patch of beautiful Spanish needles in bloom, we may gather an armful before we notice anything amiss, just as we can innocently venture into the inviting temptation Satan has painstakingly arranged without noticing any danger. As we walk among the blooms, plucking them, we may glance at our clothes and find that they are covered with small dark needles which are shaped somewhat like an A. Their two little legs attach themselves to clothes or anything else they can touch and grab hold of. Then the entire needle flattens out and sticks tightly to whatever it is attached to. It seems impossible to brush them off; they have to be picked off individually.
Satan works the same way. As we wander into his area of temptation, before we know what has happened, we are covered with his dirt and sin. We will think we are on the brink of a lovely experience or some exciting happenings; but suddenly we begin to notice the results of it on the rest of our life. It is not lovely at all; and Satan’s stickers or darts cover the surface of every part of our life.
As we remove and discard the Spanish needles, even then they have the last laugh, for each needle is a seed, and as we drop them, we are planting next year’s crop.
In the same way, as we try to discard the ravages of Satan’s attachment, we are spreading it with each step we take. It is still attached to our life, and it also begins to stick to others who come in contact with us.
The best way to handle Spanish needles is to get someone to help remove them, and then put them in the garbage to be disposed of where they cannot reseed.
The best way to handle the wiles of Satan is to get Jesus to remove them from our life and to cleanse us from every trace of them, so they can’t reseed or revive. One cleansing from Jesus is not enough to stop Satan’s temptations and traps. The cleansing will free us for the dirt, but we need to invite Jesus to walk with us every day and protect us from the temptation and power of Satan because, on our own, we are not strong enough to resist. With Jesus by our side, we have all the protection and resistance we need.
Perhaps the best lesson to learn from the Spanish needle is that we must not trust the outward appearance of a person or thing. Before we plunge headlong into the midst of a bed of beautiful flowers, an unknown group of people, or anything else we are unfamiliar with, we need to reach for Jesus’ hand to lead us where He wants us to go and protect us.
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