Life is Like a Garden

One afternoon when I was in my garden on my hands and knees weeding, the Lord started speaking to me. Funny how the Lord will speak to you most when your down on your knees, and when your eye to eye with the dirt that you came from. I don’t know about you, but it seems like the lower I get the more God speaks.
I had already taken the hoe and cleared out the weeds in the paths between the rows. I got so busy with the cares of this life that it had been weeks since I weeded. With the hoe, I chopped those nasty weeds that were stealing all the nutrients from those precious plants in my garden. Every time that hoe came down, I thought about the Word of God that chopped and chopped at the weeds in my heart.
There were so many weeds in my garden, but at least now I had cleared paths just big enough to walk in between all the rows. You know, it sure is a good idea for us to let God take his word and chop down the weeds in between all the rows in our garden. That way he can clear a path to walk through and examine the fruit.
So I finally got all the weeds between my rows cleared, but now for the most delicate task. There were weeds all around my plants. I couldn’t take the hoe to those weeds. Oh no, those weeds had to be pulled out by hand, and very carefully too. You see, those weeds had to come out roots and all. I had to go very slow. I couldn’t just yank those weeds out or I might damage my plant, or maybe even pull up my plant along with the roots. Boy, I’m sure glad the Gardener of Life knows when to use a hoe, and when to use a gentle, but steady hand.
Then there were the weeds that broke off at the top of the dirt. I couldn’t get those roots out. The roots had such a strong hold. Well, my garden looked great on the outside for a while, but in time those roots that were still in the dirt brought forth weeds again.
You know, sometimes I can’t get all the weeds out of my life with this frail hand of flesh. Lots of times I end up leaving the roots. Oh my garden might look nice on the top soil for a while, but in time those weeds come back up because the roots are still there. What I need to do is stand aside and let the strong hand of the Gardener of Life pull those weeds up roots and all. When God does the weeding, it’s done right.
You know another good thing I learned about weeding is that the best weeding was done down on my knees right close to that squash plant. I had been weeding the ground all around my plants with a hoe, but I had not taken the time to get down on my hands and knees to get all the weeds that were right there close to my plants. I was always so busy with the hoe clearing out those weeds that were in sight so that my garden would look nice.
Well, one day when I was down on my knees weeding right close to that plant I got to thinking, “These weeds that are closer to my plants, are the one’s that really needed to be pulled out first.”
Spiritually speaking, it’s the weeds right close to our hearts that need pulled out by the roots first. We can waste a lot of time worrying about all those outside sins, the ones that people can see, when it’s those inside sins right next to our hearts that the Lord is really interested in. You know, it’s the weeds that are closer to those plants that will affect the outcome of the vegetable. And it’s the weeds that are closer to our hearts that will affect the out come of our fruit for the Lord. The Bible says in Matthew 7:16, “ Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thisles?”
Maybe it’s those sins tucked way out of sight right next to the heart that need the plucking out. Have you ever heard the expression, “let’s get to the root of the problem?” Well, it’s those roots that we will always have the problem with. Those roots could be, roots of bitterness, roots of envy, roots of anger. There can be all different kinds of roots. But those roots need to come out if we are going to bear some good fruit. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. That root of bitterness can affect the fruit of joy. Or that root of anger can affect the fruit of gentleness.
You know something else? After I pulled up those weeds by the roots next to my plant, my plant became a bit shaky, and weak because a lot of dirt came up with those root. Those weeds had been there for a while, and those roots were deep. But I watered those plants, and they became strong again. Within no time at all, the fruit was in sight. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, that my strength is made perfect in weakness. And in verse10 it says, “for when I am weak than am I strong.”
The Lord showed me something else about my garden. He showed me that if I weeded more often, the less work I would have to do. When I went out the next day to weed, there wasn’t as many weeds as there were before. And that goes for the garden of life too. The sooner I catch those weeds, the easier it is for them to come out by the roots.
Here’s something else about those weeds. They are always going to be there. I can weed all I want, and my garden will still grow weeds. There’s always going to be sin in my life, but the way for me to stay ahead of the problem is to weed that sin out while the roots are still tender. You know, if there’s too many weeds, the harvest won’t be as good it could be. And spiritually speaking, if I got rid of a lot of the weeds in my life, the fruit will be a better quality. There’s fruit in a lot of Christians lives, but what is the quality of it? Those bitter, sinful weeds sure do take a lot of the nutrition out of the fruit. What a shame to hand the Savior a puny, helpless looking piece of fruit, and all because of those stinking weeds.
Weeding is not all the work for a garden. I have to water my garden, and water it every day. In the garden of life, the water is the Word of God. I can use my water hose to water my garden, but it’s much better when God himself opens the widows of heaven and sends a light rain shower down to my garden. God’s water is much better for my garden. The water from my water hose is not as pure. It’s the same with God’s Word, the Authorized King James Bible. This Bible was the first Bible to come out in the English language in the year 1611. The devil did not want this Bible to come out, so he got together a crop of wicked people to try to stop it. They burned to death men like John Wyilclef, and others who began translating God’s word into the English language. The rest of the Bibles are contaminated by man. They take out verses they don’t like or understand, and add to it what they want. Just as people would rather buy cool spring water that’s pure, I’d rather buy an old King James Version for my garden of life. A garden will dry up and die if it’s not watered, and so will your garden of life if it’s not watered with the Word of God.
Last but not least, what you put into your garden is what you’ll get out of it. The Bible says, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7. How true this verse is. Now get your Bible out and read the next two verses. The more work you put into your garden, the better the harvest. So let the Savior, and others taste of the glorious, juicy fruit that is in your life’s garden.