The ground where I grow my roses must be carefully prepared. Their roots go deep, and the topsoil on this hilltop doesn’t. So I have to spend a lot of time grubbing around in the dirt first, digging large holes and filling them with better soil. And I place lasagna-type layers around the holes to extend the space.
I could plant the roses without preparing the soil first, but they wouldn’t grow as well. Some would give up and sulk, others would give up and die. They like good, deep, rich earth into which to sink their roots.
Where I plant lettuce, I worry not so much about depth as about having a fertile half foot or so of topsoil. The tiny lettuce seeds flourish there, and in a few weeks they’ll have produced a crop of salad greens for our meals. Their roots are shallower than those of the roses, but they still require good soil. They just need all their nutrients in the top few inches.
And where the soil lies empty and uncared for, where I plant nothing at all, weeds quickly fill every corner. They need no help, no encouragement, and certainly no soil preparation. Weeds grow with no effort.
“Gloom we have always with us,” writes Barbara Holland, “a rank and sturdy weed, but joy requires tending.”12
Gloom and weeds, like sin, need no extra help on our part. They just grow.
But if I want a harvest of some kind, if I want roses or lettuce leaves, a joyful heart or fruitful spirit, it’s going to take some work for that to happen.
If the soil in my heart is hard or sin-clodded or full of gloom, I’ll have to dig deep to remove it. And I’ll have to fill my heart with fertile and fruit-producing activities. What I grow in that garden is largely up to me.
Because whether I grow roses or lettuce, tomatoes or daisies, the garden that’s flourishing within my heart is going to depend a great deal on how I nourish it.
And if I make no effort to grow spiritually, if I ignore God and the good news of Jesus Christ, the weeds in my heart will grow fast. I’ve watched weeds take over in any garden I’ve planted outdoors, and in no time at all. If I’m not on the job to remove them, they will crowd out any of the good seeds I’ve planted.
Sin can take over a life just as fast. It requires no tending. “For the imagination [thought or intent] of [a person’s] heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21).
What I grow in my heart is up to me.
| Prayer | Reflection |
| Lord, I want my heart to be full of good things. I need you to be the Master Gardener there. | What seeds am I planting in my heart today? |