Archive for September, 2010
Lessons from the Garden #2
September 11th, 2010
This morning as I mailed some letters I stopped to look at the flower boxes on the side of my mailbox. Every year I plant moss rose in those boxes because they can withstand the summer’s oppressive heat and drought. From a distance those flower boxes looked pretty good. I was amazed that this late in the season they were still green and flowering…until I looked closer. What I thought looked healthy from afar was not what I found on closer inspection. Three different kinds of weeds had taken up residence among the moss rose; flourishing, green weeds with small blooms made the moss rose appear healthier, lush and more compact than they actually were. So as I started pulling those weeds I began to wonder, ‘is sin in my life deceptive like that’? Do I appear to be spiritually healthy because ‘weeds’ are providing a deceptive façade for me? Are there behaviors and works in my life that look good but do not bring glory to GOD and spread the knowledge of HIM? Is that what was happening to the Church in Sardis (Revelation 3:3:1-7)? Do the ‘weeds’ in my life provide the illusion of being spiritually alive when that’s not the case? What behaviors/actions/words do I need to get rid of that masquerade as spiritual but are not that at all. As I pulled those weeds from my flower boxes I prayed that God would open my eyes to see the weeds in my life that from afar appear to be spiritually sound but are actually hindering my obedience to HIS will.
God please forgive me for nurturing weeds in my life that inhibit me from giving YOU glory and spreading the fragrance of your SON. Open my eyes to discern the weeds from the VINE and help me “cultivate” my life so that YOU always receive glory from my behavior, actions, and words.