I just spent the better part of 90 minutes reclaiming my garden from the weeds that grew up from within. All the weeds that werent being removed and all the grew to enormous heights! And the things i thought might be flowers and allowed them to continue to bloom only to find out that they were in fact weeds that were strangling my lovely flowers.
My life is like this too. I love the flowers. I love the blooms and i want them. just enjoy was has been growing i am over taken by what grew from within, under the lovely things. The weeds grow up and strangle out the parts that have been cultivated and valuable. I work hard at being all the things that are in Galatians:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
I want to show love to everyone and i work hard at being patient. But when i think i have grown until i have reached the end state (the bloom and i can sit and enjoy the beauty, a weed comes up and starts to strangle out any joy i might have. It happens slowly. And i dont notice, because i am no longer 'tending' my garden. I forget to look under the leaves for the sprouts that are going to strangle out what the Spirit has worked so hard in cultivating.
It made me think about the parable of the seed:
Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
~Mark 4
Maybe this isnt just about spreading 'The Good News' seed. Maybe this is something within us too. We interact with people all the time. As we hope to plant little seeds within them, they also plant little seeds within us. Some are wonderful seeds that bare fruit, while others still are weeds. And even the most beautiful gardens can go wild.
I must be ever vigilant to keep these pressed on my heart. To remember that rest doesnt mean unaware. And i need to remember that the rest is to renew my heart to keep going strong.
And this is just cute.
