As I knelt in our front garden, I was struck with just how many weeds had taken root.
It had only been a few weeks since I last tended to our roses, and in that short time, choke weed, bindweed, pokeweed, and pigweed had all taken root. While the pokeweed was easy enough to uproot, the others had embedded themselves into the soil quite sufficiently, making my task of weeding them out very difficult.
At first, I considered whether the fresh topsoil we’d purchased was to blame. Maybe it wasn’t as clean as advertised. Then, I thought our mulch could be at fault; perhaps we need to look at a different type next year to avoid all these weeds invading our garden space.
Try as I might to find some external influence to blame, the truth is that our garden was overrun with weeds because I wasn’t tending to it regularly.
My struggles with gardening, sad to say, are like those in my spiritual life. While I start out strong, I have a hard time following through. My spring efforts of getting our garden ready for the season simmer and stop, and by midsummer, our garden is often overrun with weeds.
While things may look good from a distance, when we dig down and really examine the soil, there is so much work that needs to be done.
As I tried to untangle the roots of whatever weed was choking out our Bolero Floribunda rose bush, I was reminded of Proverbs 24:30-32 (KJV): “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.”
Slothfulness in my spiritual life is a problem; I’d rather sleep for those extra minutes in the morning then get up and get into God’s Word. As a result, my understanding lacks and I’m left wanting for more, but not necessarily wanting to put in the work to grow.
It’s not easy to get up early and dedicate those first moments of the day to God and His Word; it requires regular effort. It takes hard work and diligence to write down prayer requests and keep track of praises in my prayer journal.
I start out strong and enthusiastically but tire quickly. I tend to let my lack of understanding discourage deeper study of God’s Word, and I let life and distractions take up my time, leaving little or no time for God.
I’m also guilty of getting my heart wrapped up and filled up by the cares and entertainment of this world so I’m too full to feed on God’s Word.
Sound familiar? When Jesus shared the parable of the sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8), He explained that there were four types of ground on which the seed fell: The wayside, the stony places, among thorns, and on good ground. The wayside soil signifies people who hear God’s Word, but they don’t understand it and Satan uses this to keep them in darkness. The stony places represent those who start out strong and enthusiastically, but their flame is burned out as soon as they encounter life’s challenges and trials. The thorny ground speaks about those whose hearts are open to receiving God’s Word, but they get wrapped up and filled up by the cares of this world. The good ground however, this is the ground that represents the people who hear God’s Word, understand it, bear and bring forth fruit from it.
In any garden, good ground is not possible without consistency and hard work by the gardener. Soil needs to be tilled, weeds need to be picked, plants need to be nurtured and pruned. These activities are not limited to once a season; these tasks need to be worked on each day, thoughtfully, methodically, with the end goal in mind of keeping the garden growing well.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV).