“Twice a year I put weed-killing fertilizer on my lawn. One applies the finely granulated material when the lawn is damp from the dew, and it sticks to the broad leaves of the weed, infiltrating the plant through the leaf and, within a few weeks, destroying it at the root. It does not bother fine-leaved grasses, but encourages their growth, not only by fertilizing them but also by freeing them from competition with weeds for water and nutrients.

If one severs an accomplished weed above the root, the plant will disappear for a while, but the living root will send up a new one; in fact, it is likely to send up multiple new plants. To deal effectively with it, the root must be killed.

A Christian must, I believe, think like that about the application of God’s Word [as it presents itself through not only the written text but through life itself] to deep-rooted human problems. The object is to get a grain of real, undiluted truth to stick to one of the leaves, in hope that the plant itself will make it systemic, and destroy the evil thing at the root. The grain does not look like much, or its chances of success very hopeful, when it first goes down. Only later do the effects become evident.”

- S.M. Hutchens