June 13 - Weed Your Garden Day

A couple of years ago I decided to have a garden plot.  I'm not really sure why, but at the time I thought it was a good idea.  Oh, we were going to enjoy beans, peas, tomatoes, and maybe even some carrot -- straight from the garden.  We got it all planted and it went well for the first few weeks, well maybe it was only a week. 

The weeds started to grow. We did OK at first but then it seemed like the weeds grew faster than the vegetables and before you know it I couldn't tell what was weed and what was garden. Thankfully I had some help from my husband and other gardeners and we salvaged much of what was planted.

So what would have happened if I had just given up and let the weeds grow alongside the garden vegetables?  Soon the weeds would have choked out the good stuff. The weeds would have sucked up all the moisture in the ground, they would have blocked the vegetables from sunlight, and may have choked off any potential growth in the good plants.  I read that one of the best gardening tips is to "stay in control of your garden."  That seems like good advice.

Matthew 13 tells a parable that Jesus told about seeds that were sown by a farmer. Some seeds fell where the birds ate them; some seeds fell on rocky soil so they could not grow deep roots to gather moisture; and some seeds fell on ground that soon was full of weeds.  But the last seeds fell on good soil that produced a big harvest.  The lesson that Jesus was trying to teach us is that we need to listen to God's Word and really understand and apply it. Then God's message will grow deep in our hearts and really change us.

Check out the refrigerator today. Are there any carrots or other vegetables in there?  Grab a quick snack and head out to weed the garden. While you are there think about how well you are hearing God's Word. Are you really listening, or will God's message be choked out by all the distractions in your life that are like weeds in the garden?

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