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Suckers! No, not the kind you lick or those people that are easily duped or cheated.

These are tree suckers. What is a tree sucker?

Gardeners explain that a sucker is an effort by a tree to grow more branches out of its trunk or roots, especially if it is under stress. However, suckers are not good for the tree, or any other plant that develops them. Therefore, it is necessary to control the suckers for the health of the tree.

Controlling suckers…

Gardeners advise that it is better to try to prevent a tree sucker than to have to deal with its removal. Suckers threaten the tree’s health.

Some trees have shallow roots and others develop roots near the surface due to difficult growing conditions. This makes them more prone to suckering.

While suckers grow on non-grafted trees, they also will grow when two trees are spliced or grafted together. Gardening experts say that the top of the tree is happy, but the lower half of the tree is under some stress and is trying to reproduce itself.

Experts give some tips to help with sucker control…

Keep plants in good health. Many times, tree roots start to grow suckers when under stress, which can be caused by drought, over-watering, disease, or pests.

Remove quickly. A tree sucker will sap the energy and life away from the healthier and more desirable branches on top, so quick removal is necessary.

Prune regularly. Pruning plants encourages more growth but not all growth is good. One gardening site said, “Suckers (branches growing from the base of the tree)…are never going to bear fruit.”

Let’s apply this personally, to our spiritual lives.

So, what causes the suckers in your life? What things drain the best of God’s Life out of you? What sucks the love, adoration, and worship of the Lord out of you?

* riches?
* power?
* friends?
* your job?
* addictions?
* your family?
* unrepented sin?
* doubt or worry?
* anger or hatred?
* poor self-image?
* unforgiveness or bitterness?
* depression or negative thinking?
* too many things listed on your calendar?

Are any of these suckers ruining your spiritual health, choking out the potential growth from the nutrients and nourishment of the Word of God? Do you notice that there are suckers in your life, or do they go unnoticed until you are in a spiritually unhealthy state?

Let’s apply the tips we learned for sucker control…

Keep spirits in good health. Many times, life suckers grow when under stress, like when we go through trials that leave us spiritually parched, diseased, or when “pests” attack us.

Remove the life sucker quickly. Before a life sucker has the chance to sap the strength and energy away from the health of our spirits, we need to spend time in prayer, asking the Lord to show us those areas that are draining us of His presence.

Prune your spirit regularly. We need to give ourselves regular checkups and prune away those extraneous life suckers. There will never be any spiritual fruit in our lives if suckers are allowed to remain.

Jesus said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 Amp)

When we allow the sucker branches of circumstances, busy schedules, jobs, self-interests, people, worries, doubts, or unforgiveness to deplete us of our relationship with the Lord and cut off our vital union with Him, how will our spirits be nourished? Paul said, “Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him,” (Colossians 2:7a TLB).

What sucks the Life out of you?