Gardening is Spiritual

I know I will probably get some flack from this title, but oh well. Here are my thoughts as I was doing a little gardening today.

We have a "flower bed" right in the middle of our yard. Goes with the shed right in the middle of our yard, I suppose. We did not put either of them there, they were there when we moved in. Briana (the young lady who lives with us so she can finish her Senior Year at Concord) is having a fund raiser for her Senior Trip, selling flower bulbs. So, I was looking over the catalog of all the different flowers and decided to order some. Right on the front cover is a beautiful collection of red flowers, of different varities. I thought that would look nice in the flower bed, and I didn't have to try to figure out what would look good together. So, I ordered it, but the order won't be in until the week after next or so. Well, that's okay because I needed to clean out the weeds and grass that's been growing in there since who knows when.

Today, Karlie wanted me to go lay out on the deck with her to get some sun. I layed there about 1/2 an hour, and couldn't stand it any more. There was the flower bed to clean out, the bushes need trimming and the new grill we just bought needs to be assembled. So, I got up, went to the shed, and got out a rake. I headed for the flower bed. It is a square bed, made with old rail road ties. It's pretty good size, and like I said, it's in the middle of our yard, so it stands out quite well.
So, here I am, in my swimsuit, mind you, raking and pulling out weeds and grass. As I'm doing this, I'm having all these thoughts run through my head, a sermon almost:

Preparing a garden, getting a flower bed ready, or any other type of garden, preparing the ground, is like getting all the junk out of your life. As I was pulling on some very deep rooted grass, I noticed that this one clump would not come out!!! It has some very, very deep roots that have apparently spread across the flower bed and deep into the soil. As I was digging around it and pulling at it, I thought, "Things in our life can have deep spiritual roots, just like this clump of grass. We can pull and dig at them, but to get them out may require more; you may have to get out bigger tools, dig much deeper than it appears, and the main root may not even be underneath the clump you are trying to dig up. Often I would give up on that clump of grass and move to another area, another clump of grass, or some weeds and dig them up. As I would pull and tug, I would often come across a root that was a foot long or more, under a tiny weed or clump of grass. I thought that was interesting, how deceiving the clump of grass or weed appeared. I thought the root would be small and short, easy to get out, but no, it was long and I had to be careful not to rip or tear it. It made me think of the roots in our lives; what do we have so deeply rooted in our lives that can be deceiving? Sexual immorality is one. The bible points out that when sexual immorality is commited, the root of it goes so much deeper than just that one act. It is passed on for generations to come; at least 10 generations are affected after the one act. And, the curse of sexual immorality can cause other problems that you might not even associate with sexual immorality; like addictions, financial problems, even murder (look at King David's example in the bible).

I still have to work on that clump of grass and this other stalk of something that I can't simply pull out. I may have to get Jeff or Brandon to pull it out. What things do we have to work on in our lives to get rid of the deep roots caused by someone or something in our past? You can pray to God to have him reveal things to you if you don't know. If you already know, then pray to God for the curse to be broken.