I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 24:30-34 NIV
If you’ve done any farming or even cultivated a vegetable garden in your own back yard, you know that you can’t afford to let weeds get ahead of you. Some warm weather, and a few days of rain, and they’ll take over very quickly! Gardening takes diligence and hard work. You can’t just plant the seeds, go away for a month, then come back and expect the garden to be in good shape. You need to be attentive to the plants, watering them as needed and guarding them against pests and diseases. Weeds are inevitable, and you need to pull them out regularly to keep them from choking out your plants and stealing valuable nutrients from the soil. So what does all this have to do with spiritual matters?
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:8 NIV
Jesus likens our spiritual lives to a garden on many occasions. His word provides the seeds that need to take root in our hearts and minds, then grow and produce the results God desires. If we expect to be healthy and strong, we need to apply ourselves and to be attentive to spiritual things. It takes diligence and hard work! We need to spend time in the Son, and soak in the water of God’s word regularly to grow and become strong.
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.” Matthew 13:24-25 NIV
We also have an enemy who constantly sows things in our lives that don’t belong and most certainly don’t produce the righteousness God desires. We simply can’t afford to fall asleep or to get lazy! We should constantly be on the look out for “weeds” that begin to take root in us and threaten to choke out what God has planted in our hearts. The sooner you remove a weed, the easier it comes out and the less damage it does.
I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere…..
So what’s growing in your garden?