Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.
If you saw my dining room, you’d think I was an expert horticulturist. No such luck. My husband is the green thumb in this family. I, however, don’t seem to have the same effect on our green, leafy friends. In fact, my thumb is so far from green, it's brown. Hey, wait a minute. My thumb is brown!
But even if I forget to water the lovely chlorophyll beauties, I really do know a few of the basics about planting. Here goes my encapsulation - drop a seed in soil, water, weed, and watch it grow. And the same basic principle for planting holds true for cultivating a life of sweet thinking. Losing the battle of the mind usually starts with planting the wrong type of “seed.” Say you're looking for a seed that produces resentment. Try planting unforgiveness. What about a pungent bouquet of vengeance. May I recommend the garden variety seeds of envy, jealousy, bitterness and a sprig of covetousness.
Seriously speaking, no one I know would ever purposely grow those things in their life’s garden. But as a flower doesn't spring up overnight, the creation of, let’s say, unforgiveness. doesn’t pop up on us unexpectedly. It begins with a small seed planted in the heart. Thoughts, like the seeds we plant, take time to germinate and grow. Unforgiveness may have started out as a slight or offense that may have cultivated from a myriad of hurt emotions, but once those thoughts take root, all kinds of things spring up. And if we're not careful to uproot overgrown weeds, we may end up, like those weeds, with a very unruly and out-of-control thought life.
Festering over a co-worker getting a promotion we believe to be ours, stewing over a neighbor's insensitivity to shush their howl-at-the-moon dog or even boiling in standstill traffic in the construction zones from the pit of hades might seem absurd to some. Absurd or not, they are only a few examples of when bad seeds slowly grow into weeds. Don’t have those issues? Hate to tell you that’s a weed of delusion growing in your garden. We all have some form of "bad seed hangups." From rejection as a child to abuse as an adult, from stress in the workplace to ill health forming under the pressure, from boredom with our simple lives to hiding secret sins in our proverbial closet from our loved ones, weeds can overrun our life‘s gardens. God calls us to think or plant things that produce good results. Seeds such as truth, nobility, righteousness, loveliness and even purity are designed to yield a most excellent and praiseworthy bouquet.
Well, what’s a person to do if their garden grows nothing but "stinkin' thinkin' weeds"? Go to the expert Gardener for assistance. His name is Jesus. Much like the plan of salvation, when we get to the root of the unwanted growth, we find that there is good soil waiting to receive good seed. In weeding, much like in confession, we get on our knees and start pulling. We confess the wrongs we’ve done and present to God the wrongs done to us. And in those deeply-rooted problem areas, we ask for Christ’s healing and direction. This step may require what I call a “weed killer.” The product on the garden market is called Round-Up and doesn’t it sound appropriate that our ultimate “weed killer” comes from God’s infallible word and His word “rounds-up” our weeds (usually in the form of lies the enemy supplants). Our Master Gardener even replied to his disciples that “every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.” How’s that for Jesus getting to the root of any issue we see forming in our lives!
Okay, so you may never look at planting in quite the same way again. That’s fine by me; I really don‘t want you to. My hope is that the seeds germinating from your walk with God produce nothing but beautiful bouquets of truth. May your thoughts find their roots in God’s word and may your seeds of truth grow in a most excellent and praiseworthy soil!
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