- Till the ground to make it soft, to make it able to plants flowers or vegetables.
- Plant the flowers or vegetables.
- Water the plants.
- Maybe even put mulch around them to ensure that it is tougher for weeds to grow.
Am I done with the garden at this point? Yes, I am but it takes daily work to keep that garden going, to make it pretty or to make sure the plants grow. I have to be very present in making sure that the garden actually is taken care of. It takes work to up keep it, to make it look pretty, to make the vegetables grow. I have to keep the weeds out, because they will use the water that the plants need, they will take the life and grow fast to shade the actual good plants from growing. Weeds are bad, they will destroy the garden. Plus, I have to make sure nothing gets into my garden, rodents can eat the flowers or even the vegetables
Upkeep of the garden.
- Watering
- Weeding
- Keeping out the things intent to ruin the garden
- Insects
- Rabbits
- Woodchucks
- Pruning
- Picking ripe vegetables or produce
The cycle of the garden is much like the cycle of our Christian life, it takes work. If we are not willing to do the work it takes, our gardens will grow so full of weeds that the life of the plants that are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Self control will have a hard time staying alive. They will suffer and we will suffer from the effects of the weeds. It is a constant effort to keep our lives free from those weeds that will choke us. Those weeds are part of who we are, just like in a garden, the weeds come from nowhere, they just appear, same with the weeds in our heart, they just appear. If we do not tend the garden of our heart, it will be filled with all the things that grieves the Holy Spirit.
I believe people tend to say, if Jesus wants it out of my life He will remove it, but I believe that it takes us saying Lord help me to remove this from my life, it takes effort from me to stop that specific thing, such as bad thoughts, if I continue to indulge in thinking them, I am not doing anything to help Jesus remove them, because I am giving into the flesh, I need to bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ. If I am sinning and allowing sin to creep into my life, I need to confess my sins, repent of them and turn from them, that means not doing them anymore. Sins are weeds that grow in our heart garden.
What is growing in your heart garden? Are you tending to it or are you doing no work to keep what God has given you?
I have heard it said that great things take work, if you want something you will work at it, you will not stop, because you want it bad enough. If it is something you don't want, you will do nothing to obtain it. And if you are not willing to do the work, then do you really want it? Things just don't happen just because, it takes work to move forward in life. Are you stuck, then start doing the work to get unstuck, make the choices and stick to them. Don't give up, because God is in it all and wants us to press into Him.
It is easy to blame the weeds, instead of looking at the actual problem is not the weeds, but what is being done to control them. The weeds are not the issue, the issue is there is no one there to pull them out. I can start pulling the weeds, by being willing to admit my faults. God talks about this in the Bible. Romans 2:1 "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." and Romans 2:3 "So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?" Romans 2:3 puts us to the test, it is easy to tell someone else to do something, yet we do the exact thing we tell them not to do. We are not being willing to look at ourselves first. James 1:14 "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." If I am not willing to clean the weeds out, those weeds will be the temptation.
Last but not least...
Matthew 7:3-5 "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."
It is easy to blame the weeds, instead of looking at the actual problem is not the weeds, but what is being done to control them. The weeds are not the issue, the issue is there is no one there to pull them out. I can start pulling the weeds, by being willing to admit my faults. God talks about this in the Bible. Romans 2:1 "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." and Romans 2:3 "So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?" Romans 2:3 puts us to the test, it is easy to tell someone else to do something, yet we do the exact thing we tell them not to do. We are not being willing to look at ourselves first. James 1:14 "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." If I am not willing to clean the weeds out, those weeds will be the temptation.
Last but not least...
Matthew 7:3-5 "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."
