WEEDS IN YOUR GARDEN

Do you have a garden at home? What are you growing? Is your garden thriving and producing crops or is it limp and choked by weeds? Gardens take time and effort if you want them to produce the desired plant. By time and effort I mean that you need to make sure the plants get adequate water as all living things need water to sustain them or they will die. Next you may want to fertilize them if necessary. One of your biggest responsibilities will be to keep the weeds from growing in the same place with the crops as they will overtake the garden if it is not tended to.

My strawberries have done fairly well this year but there is a wild strawberry plant, also known as a weed, that is growing amongst the big lush berries. If I do not get rid of this, plus the clover that is wrapping itself around the strawberries, then I will not get much fruit from what has been planted.

How is your "spiritual garden"? Is your spiritual life growing and thriving or does it need to be watered, fertilized, and weeded? Is the only time you spend any time with God on Sunday for one hour when you "have to"? Do you even bother trying to get to know Jesus better and strengthening your spiritual life? The "fertilizer" of sorts would be getting into the word of God to know Him better so you can "grow" in Christ. The "weeds" would be things you are doing or sins you commit that take you further away from God. It could be an attitude of your heart.

What kind of "weeds" are growing in your life that need to be pulled out down to the roots? If you have clover in your yard and simply cut the flower off the rest of the weed is still under ground and will spring up again. The thing about weeds is they do not require much to grow but take lots of effort to eradicate.

Matthew 13:7(NIV) says 'Other seed grew among thorns which grew up and choked the plants' referring to the word of God falling on hard hearts that do not have Jesus inside of them. Are the "weeds" of sin choking your relationship with Jesus? Only you can answer that question. Have you neglected your "spiritual garden" and gone out and done your own thing? Do you want to bear spiritual fruit or just have weeds all over the place?

Get those weeds out daily by having time alone with the Lord. Take time to let the "fruits" of the spirit grow in your life.

Galatians 5:22-23(NIV) says 'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.' Don't let weeds choke your life but be "fruitful" for the kingdom of God.

PRAYER: Today I choose to keep the weeds of sin out of my life. I do not want growing closer to you to be choked out by sins. Give me strength to resist attempts by the enemy, Satan, to make excuses for why I can not spend time each day with Jesus. In Jesus' name. Amen.