Healthy things grow!
Sitting on the front deck last night I was reading my favorite chapter in Proverbs, which is chapter three. As I came near the end I began to stare out over my lawn and just ponder what I had read. As I was in my ponder I asked the Holy Spirit to help me remain humble as I know that pride has been a weed that perhaps still has some seedlings in my heart. Proverbs 3:34 says; “The Lord mocks at mockers, but shows favor to the humble.” (NLT)
Looking over the lawn I simply prayed; “Holy Spirit let the healthy grass of your humility choke out any weeds of pride that still dwell in me.” When these words came from my heart it made me remember what I had learned from a horticultural specialist about landscaping. He told me that the greatest defense against weeds growing in a yard wasn’t weed killers, being obsessively focused on pulling weeds by hand, or any other method that was aimed at attacking weeds. He said the greatest defense was to focus on the nutrients that would keep a lawn healthy and green. In a healthy lawn the grass itself will choke out the weeds. God gives us such great parallels in the natural that can speak into our own lives.
Many times we can get so caught up in all the weeds we need to pull or attack with weed killer, that we forget to focus simply on putting the ingredients into our lives that produce a healthy one that is green and thriving. A lawn that bears the fruit of His Spirit which are found in Galatians 5:22-23 which says; “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (NLT)
Humble surrender to God’s will in our lives will produce such a life in us that these fruits will be alive and thriving. Our intentions should be more in the arena of cultivating the lawn of our lives with such things as prayer, meditation on God’s word to renew our minds continually, connection in spiritual community with other Christ-followers to bring mutual growth in our lives, and remembering continually that we live under an open heaven where the rain of God’s spirit can be ever-present in our daily lives.
Focus on the positive effects of having a great life created through the grace of God, continually walking humbly surrendered to His will daily. You’ll notice the weeds will get revealed to you that may need to be pulled, but the fact that your focus is on the answer more than the problem will choke out much more of the negative than you could ever do on your own. Have a great week, surrendered to him.
Kameron Lombard © 2011
