Tending our spiritual lives
Gardening is a great hobby. Not only is it good exercise outdoors, but the results are worth the effort: colorful flowers, healthy vegetables, a lovely yard. Garden beds require a lot of attention, daily nurture. When my garden goes unattended, weeds surface and grow. They can take over if my garden is neglected. Here is the evidence.
The photo on the left is of my cared-for and carefully tended front flower garden. The picture on the right displays the evidence of neglect. After I spent weeks in California this summer, my poor garden did not benefit from my careful weeding and watering, and it suffered as a result.
These garden pictures are a metaphor for our spiritual lives. Our spirits need care and attention every day in order to thrive. In order to grow in Christ we need the nourishing water only Jesus gives:
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14
We need to spend time with Jesus, reading His Word, praying, to receive the life-giving water our souls so desperately need.
Then there are the weeds. Though some of them are deceitfully pretty, we don’t want them taking over our gardens. They grow easily, without any effort, and easily overrun our flowers and vegetables. We need to carefully rid our gardens of weeds, and also rid our lives of weeds- weeds of dissatisfaction, deceit, doubt, disobedience.
Jesus told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while he was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. Matthew 13:24
Let us carefully tend the garden of our souls daily, receiving Jesus’ tender nourishment and carefully weeding out those traits and habits that don’t belong. May our lives be a fragrant, beautiful garden, attracting others to Jesus.
