tend your own plot

When I worked in the Hamptons there were several 6-plus acre estates we attended to. My crew had four people, so it took hours each week to care for the grounds. We would each take a portion of the property each week...it became "ours". We knew what had to get done. We knew the large specimen trees and the dwarf English Boxwoods.

Rule #1
Keep your eyes on your plot. Sometimes it gets lonely pulling weeds by yourself. Don't get sidetracked and wander off.

Rule#2
If you make a mistake, take the blame. If you come across a plant that is sick or dying, tell the foreman.

Rule #3
At the end of the day, there will be more to do tomorrow

The key to tending our gardens and our lives is to take responsibility for what grows. Yes, Jesus told us the parable of the weeds growing in the field at night...while we were sleeping. But we need to look at our spiritual lives like we do our possessions; if the paint on our house is peeling, we paint it. If our check engine light goes on in our car we take it to a mechanic. If we a window breaks in our home, we replace it. If we are overweight, we go to the gym and watch what we eat?

Why does it seem like so few people do the same with their spiritual health and relationship with Christ?

Rule #1
Keep your eyes on your plot...that is yourself. Too many Christians get caught up in finding fault in so many others. Remember the words of Jesus to Peter..."what is that to you? You follow me! (John 21:22). The interior life may seem boring at times, but it is the plot God calls us to, it is the one he gave us to tend. Work on your own life with respect and awe of God (Philippians 2:12)

Rule #2
Look into all the corners of your life. There is a classic devotional book "My Heart, Christ's Home" that asks you to pray through aspects of your life as if they were rooms in a house. Look under the bed, in the closet, under the pile of close. Don't bury the things you know God doesn't like. Show them to him and ask for forgiveness. A sick plant left alone with die. A sick soul will face the same fate. God will heal you, honest. (1 John 2:1-2)

Rule #3
It ain't over 'till the proverbial "lady sings". This process will continue until the Lord comes back with all His angles and claims His own. We loaded up into the truck at the end of the day knowing full well that there would be weeds and sick plants the next time we returned. Same with our lives. So what keeps us coming back, doing the work?
Once the work is done, the place is never the same...and the day will come when we will live in a Garden where there are no weeds (Genesis 1:18, Revelation 21)
We look with full assurance that the Hope we have is a person, not a verb.
Blessed Weeding
Bryan

knowing what to pull...

A few years back my wife and I planted a number of new bulbs in our garden. We planted a pretty good variety of heights and bloom times so we could watch our garden wake up from it's winter slumber.  They worked their magic the first year....and then they were gone! Squirrels? Rot? Grubs? Nope, nope, nope...me!

We had planted them randomly and I didn't know how to identify the young shoots in the spring so I pulled them out thinking they were weeds. Agggh!


How to avoid desolation in the garden: 
Rule #1
Know what to pull. Every plant when it begins pretty much looks the same. Color patterns, flowers and  fruit express themselves with maturity. Young leaves have yet to take on their adult characteristics.  Once you learn (from a book or elsewhere) you can  remember these identifying features and store them in memory.

Rule #2
Do not weed too early. When the snow melts and the sun warms plants and weeds start the competition of which lays claim to the garden. They do not wait in line and they do not take turns. It is best to let them grow side-by-side for a little while until you can identify the good from the bad.

Rule #3
When in doubt, ask for help. I have taught this lesson to my 4 year old daughter and the neighbor kid quickly! Her little sister and his little brother have yet to learn...oh well. "Hey, is this a weed or a flower" is a question best asked while the plant is still in the ground.... when I was landscaping you could always tell the new guy..."hey, is this a...." was heard over and over again.

Knowing what is "good" and what is "bad" is critical in gardens and in our spiritual life. Adam and Eve, the first gardeners wanted this knowledge but not for the right reasons. They wanted God's knowledge so they could do without him...didn't work. So they were left with knowing what was good and bad but not being able to choose the good (Romans 3:23)

So are helpless in the garden now? No. We can pull spiritual weeds with the aide of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:1-2). Here are three key rules

Rule #1
Know what to pull. When our minds are transformed by the Holy Spirit, we will be able to discern the good that is pleasing to God. He guides us in all truth (John 16:3). Identifying features are learned in Scripture, reading of Saints and pillars of the faith and in prayer.

Rule #2
Do not weed too early! At times God will send us a "weed" to help conform us into a plant that will bear fruit (2 Corinthians 2:17). Farmers will plant winter Rye to stabilize the soil and prepare the ground for the spring. Take to time to look and ask if you have been given a momentary trial to help you see your true heart condition in relation to God. Let God work in and on you. He knows what He is doing. He is the Master Gardener. (Philippians 1:6)

Rule #3
When in doubt ask! We must be careful who we ask in helping us identify the weeds in our life! More than once I have watched  the neighbor kid hold a mangled thing up to my daughter and ask "hey, is this a weed"... only to hear her reply "I don't know!" We like to be scratched where we itch. Trust master gardeners of the faith, ones whom have been called up and identified as leaders. They will be known by their gardens...do they exhibit the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, forbearance, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? (Galatians 5:22-23).


Knowing what to pull takes time and commitment. It becomes easier with time as you expand your knowledge of what is good and what is not. The harvest we will reap is far better than a bumper crop of tomatoes....
Happy Weeding
b