Garden Tending

"I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser."  John 15:1

After reading this and thinking about all a vinedresser does to keep the grapes healthy and productive, my mind showed me a picture of our current greenbean garden.  I know what I need to at least attempt today - hand hoeing around them to get rid of the weeds.  It amazes me how fast those weeds grow in comparison to the bean plants.  I can look at the garden one day and say, "Well, the weeds are beginning to grow.  I need to get out the hoe."  The next day I will go out to discover that they have practically taken over!

The fire of the Holy Spirit is placed in us to rid us of weeds so that His water can then be poured over us and make us productive.  Yes, the flames scorch and hurt, but the end result is growth and mass fruit production.  We do not like the pain, so we tend to quench the Spirit with the waters (self-protection, self-gratification and all the other "selfs" you can think of) of this world.  If He is quenched, how can He destroy the weeds?  If we are overrun with weeds, how can we produce any truly good fruit?  The fruit will be stunted, diseased and there simply won't be as much of it.  BUT, if we allow God's Spirit to remove those weeds, pull them up by the roots and burn them, then the soil of our heart becomes soft, easily fertilized and soaks up the Water of His Spirit with enthusiasm.  We begin to grow and produce fruit even when we aren't trying.  It becomes automatic due to His work in and through us.

"Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times."  Mark 4:8

Lord, make the soil of my heart fertile.  I want to be productive.  Sometimes it can be scary to think about being productive, Lord.  When we think of all the tasks waiting to be accomplished, to think of something possibly being added to that list can be overwhelming.  But, Lord, you compare us to wheat.  Wheat is planted by the Sower, weeded by the Sower, watered by the Sower and even harvested by the Sower, so why do we fear?  It is You that does all the work in and through us.  All we need do is rest in Your arms, listen to and obey Your voice and we will produce everything that You have placed in us.  Make me productive.  Tend the soil of my heart and help me to stand strong and not quench the fires of the Holy Spirit as He sets out to destroy the weeds that would try to choke me out.  I love You and desire to serve You with all of my heart.  In Jesus' name.