As I weed and hoe there is a lot of quiet time for reflecting. Gardening is my favorite way to see how God has given creation great freedom, but has also given us a lot of choice in how we exercise that freedom. We have free will, but through the exercise of allowing God to prune us, we can have fewer personal weeds rearing their ugly heads each season and greater fruit in our ministry to our families and others.
Unless we’re dead, we each have weeds in our lives. I am looking forward to gardening in heaven and praying that’s my job, since their will be NO invasive species there. At our house, we enjoy squirrels, and they can teach us a lot about the weeds in our lives. Like many people, squirrels are funny and entertain us all through the year. As a gardener, I have learned a lot from squirrels. They are not so different from us in our natural, sinful state. Both species, humans and squirrels, face temptation daily. What is squirrel temptation? Corn in the feeder. Corn is like squirrel idolatry. Even if corn makes the squirrel feel good, there is a consequence to the rest of us, weeds. As a result, I don’t put that temptation in front of the squirrel because he then becomes a burden to the rest of us.
Sometimes we humans think that our sins are harmless, part of our human nature, but to God they are really a nuisance. I know feel better thinking that that little screw up is forgiven; and hope that it hasn't really hurt anyone in the long run.
In the bigger picture of our lives, God has great things He wants to do through us, but we sometimes refuse to pull the weeds until it takes a spade to get under a 12” root, disrupting all the plantings around it! The weeds that we refuse to pull (or ignore) as we walk, claiming to know Him, inflict damage, whether we acknowledge it or not. There are seeds of damage that often take years to germinate and show their fruit. Sometimes we sow the same bad seed every day! When the fruit shows itself we say, "I wonder where THAT came from?" Seldom at the harvest time will we connect that we planted them so diligently. There is no greater influence on our children’s understanding of living for Christ than our daily LIFE gardening habits.
“Search me O God and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be ANY wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:22-24)
If we are new creatures in Christ we need to say this daily. The weeds of sin have deep roots and spread out of our yards to others. As people drive by or live with us, they see them and form opinions about us AND the Jesus we say we follow. Do we want people damaged because of our actions? What affect can a wrong motive have or a laugh at the expense of someone else? Can we hide from God? When we go out in public and lack self-control and love in our words, behavior, and actions, we do so still wearing the name Christian. Perhaps that person who is laughed at or hurt will one day join a small group looking for hope. Will they respect our leadership after having encountered us in an out of control moment? Sure, we all have out of control moments now and then, but when let them become habits or something that give us pleasure - there is a deep root that needs to be pulled.
But can’t God work through any situation? Sure, he CAN, but when we commit any of the things He calls sin, it is not to His glory.What is your temptation in life? Maybe I need to say it this way; what is tolerated, fun or pleasurable for you that is not God pleasing. In what circumstance do you do things that you know fails to bring God glory? I know I don’t put corn out for the squirrels anymore. They are like us in the milk stage of faith; they fall for it every time. If we walk in the Spirit, we will remove the “corn” from our lives and we will become mature, people God can use every day. We’ll find all our needs met in Him, not in money, television, liquor, recognition, men or whatever our crutch USED to be. It is then, that God will be able to lead us beyond the imaginable to the truly joyful.
Is this optional? We have to hold each other accountable. If you don't have an accountability partner, you need one. I have freed friends to let me know if I'm off the path in any way. They are often more merciful than I deserve, but I rely on them to challenge me. I don't want to be responsible for scattering instead of gathering! There is no verse that holds me more accountable than the one below. You may lead a ministry in your church, or you may be one of the most influential leaders of all, a parent. Whatever role you feel God has called us to, you and I need to weed the garden regularly to be able to do God’s work as He expects it to be done. He will enable us to do whatever he asks of us!
1 Timothy 3
1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer,[a] he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
