Vigilance!

Back out in the garden again this week. All the rain we have had over the winter combined with a plague of hairy caterpillars has meant that the weeds have got out of hand! I've filled up our green bin with long grass and weeds pulled from between the vegetables, most of which have just about held their own against the insect invasion. It's jolly annoying how the things that I want to eat from the garden are the same ones that the insects love to eat as well. There are so many weeds out there that they could munch on but no, they have to eat the artichokes and spinach.

Anyway, all this weeding made me think about how vigilant we have to be. The weeding really needs to be done little and often to keep on top of it, much like keeping bad habits out of our lives. If I want to see obedience, fruitfulness, and righteousness in my life I have to not let them be choked out by anxiety, stress, covetousness etc. Each and every day I need to sit before God and ask Him to root out the bad stuff and nurture the good stuff. It's easier to do bit by bit than have the radical ripping out of 5ft high weeds.

Where does your life need weeding?

sowing and reaping

How often do you think to yourself, 'I wish I was thinner/healthier/had a different job' etc. Too often we want the fruit without having to sow the seed.

If you want to grow something, you first have to plant it. But that's not the end - you have to cultivate it as well. That's what takes the time. As my husband pointed out in  his sermon on Sunday, you can't go into your garden and pick an apple if there is no apple tree planted there.

Lots of us would like  to be more patient, but it doesn't happen overnight. You become more patient by cultivating patience - by actually just doing it. Yes, we'd all like to wave a magic wand and become saintly in an instant, but that's not how it works. We build muscles by using them.

We grow virtues by practising them.

We need to plant the right seeds.