We are not fooling ourselves because of past experience, however. We know the work is not finished and we can’t just wait in the lounge chair on the patio with a salad bowl and fork on the sidelines! We must continually tend to the garden. We must discourage rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks from eating our young plants to the ground. We will have to fight off weeds but pulling them up by the roots so they won’t come back. We will need to water when rain doesn’t come. But, someday it will be worth it all, when we sit down to a meal of our own making. The harvest will be in due time. For now, we watch, wait and defend our garden, taking out what does not belong.

God does the same with our lives…if we let Him. We give Him glory and make Him smile as he landscapes our lives, weeding, pulling out what does not belong like selfishness, anger, fear, grudge holding and pride. Praise God, He cares enough to make something beautiful of our very lives!

James 1, The Message

19-21 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

Dear Heavenly Father, Be the Gardner of our lives with full permission from us. Pluck, pull, tear away, and get rid of all that does not belong in our thinking and doing. Help us to tend our lives, as well, keeping watch with focus on You, taking Your lead and not bringing back into our lives what you have pruned away. May our lives bring you glory and praise. Thank you, dear Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen