Gardening

 

Some of us love the feel of moist, rich soil crumbling in our hands, pulling at it with our fingers, knowing what can grow there. Even the smell of it tickles our senses.

 

While praying this morning for someone I love dearly, I began to pull away at the roots of bitterness and anger. I’ve had issues with anger myself, so I began praying for myself, as well. In my mind, I could see the roots being lifted out of the dark, rich soil. The fact that the soil was so fertile blessed me, knowing good things can grow and are growing here, too! Like when I was a child, weeding the garden back home on the farm, I shook off the dirt from the large and tiny roots, alike. But instead of tossing the weed into a weed pile, I threw it over a cliff, into a fiery abyss was completely destroyed, never to grow here again.

My fingers dug deep into the ground, breaking up the soil as I prayed over it and asked God to bless it and fertilize it and plant His seeds there, the seeds of the fruit of the spirit, seeds of love, joy peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance… (Galatians 5:22-23 KJV). Then I realized that these seeds have already been planted here and I excitedly began to look around for the fruit of those seeds.

 

All of us who love plants, love watching them grow and produce. Scientists love to watch their projects progress, artists love to see their masterpieces morph all the way to their unveiling. So, too with God, as He watches us learn to love Him and trust Him with everything He’s given us. He’s watching us grow up to conform to His image, the image in which He created us in the first place.

 

God has given us the authority to pull up the snares (Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like… Galatians 5:19-21 KJV), to make room for the fruit of His Spirit to grow abundantly in our lives.

 

Time to do some gardening?