I was mowing the grass yesterday evening. Well, when I say "grass" I am being generous. I'm not what you would call a yard guy. There is a yard guy at the end of my street. He makes everyone else look very bad- not a weed, especially no dandelions, to be seen in his yard.
My yard, however, is a mixture of Bermuda, Fescue, Bluegrass, crab grass, dandelions, clover, and some other unidentifiable weed that is taking over.
As I was mowing yesterday, the thought occurred to me that God has created soil, and by His design, that soil is ready to produce. It is no respecter of seeds. It shows no favoritism to beautiful, nice grass over horrific, yard-condemning dandelions. It is completely neutral. It sits there, primed and ready, waiting for a seed. Any seed, good or bad, will germinate and produce.
It's no coincidence, therefore, that Jesus used soil as a metaphor for our hearts.
Just like soil, our hearts are not respecters of ideas, passions, and beliefs. Our hearts sit there, primed and ready, waiting for influences. Waiting for ideas. Waiting for beliefs. When any one of those things finds its way into our hearts, it grows.
I wonder if my heart looks a lot like my yard. A mixture of thrown-together chaos- a product of both the good and the bad that I've allowed into my heart.
I constantly study Scripture. That's one of the things I actually do somewhat decently in this thing called the Christian life. I've read through the entire Bible eleven times, and I'm working on my twelfth right now. I would imagine that Scripture has taken root in my heart and is leading and guiding a lot of my beliefs and actions. That would be the Fescue and Bermuda and Bluegrass- my desired produce.
However, I also spend far too much time filling my heart with nonsense. Here is a sampling of what would probably be also growing in my heart:
1. Outlandish one-sided talk radio bloviators who provide simplistic solutions to complex problems and, while doing a good job of antagonizing everyone, don't accomplish much.
2. Movies which constantly undermine my Christian faith by glamorizing sin- couples living together outside of marriage, profaning God's name as a common curse word, drug use and drunkenness as normal, etc.
3. TV shows where families, if together at all, are dysfunctional- men are indecisive buffoons always messing everything up, women are hyena-screeching never-satisfied drama queens who argue and fight all the time, children are "wise" and draw laughs with their smart-aleck disrespect of the buffoon dads and drama queen moms.
Do I truly think that planting these seeds in my heart will have no effect on me? Unfortunately, I can plainly see the results of the bad seeds in my yard. They sprout ugly weeds immediately and crowd out the good seeds I am trying to grow. The results of the bad seeds in my heart, however, are not as obvious.
Or are they?
Jesus said, "By their fruit you will recognize them." Whatever has been planted in your heart- whatever you have ALLOWED to be planted in your heart (all the listings above were put there in my heart by MY choice) will be evident to everyone else. What are your values? Are they shaped by Scripture?
What are your views on marriage? What are your views on tithing? What are your views on gun control? What are your views on government? What are your views on liberty and freedom? What are your views on family? Honesty? Education?
Are these values you hold based on the Word of God? Or are they based on the opinions of this world?
How do you react when something bad happens? Do you have peace in the midst of the craziness, or are you more like the people on TV who fly off the handle at everything?
What type of speech regularly comes out of your mouth? Do I even need to explain?
Your answers to the above questions show what is growing in your heart. What you have planted in your heart is growing and producing fruit. Just like my yard is producing both grass and weeds, many of us have a mixture of good and bad planted in our hearts.
My yard is ugly.
Your heart, if planted with both good and bad, is ugly too.
What I realized last night is that I am responsible for the way my yard looks. Those weeds were planted in my yard on my watch. I was negligent in killing the weeds. I was negligent in sowing good seed all over my yard. Now, the fruit of my negligence is plain for all the world to see.
The same is true of your heart. The evil in your heart was planted in your heart on your watch. You were negligent in guarding your heart. You were negligent in turning off the TV, you were negligent in staying off the internet, you were negligent in filling your heart with the good, and now, the fruit of your negligence is plain for the world to see.
It's time for some weed-killer. It's also time for some grass seed. Both for my yard and my heart.
It's really no coincidence that Jesus used soil as a metaphor for our hearts. What is planted will grow, people. Make sure you are planting the right things. Just like weeds take over a yard, the evil will take over our hearts unless mercilessly uprooted and killed.
"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." Proverbs 4:23
My yard, however, is a mixture of Bermuda, Fescue, Bluegrass, crab grass, dandelions, clover, and some other unidentifiable weed that is taking over.
As I was mowing yesterday, the thought occurred to me that God has created soil, and by His design, that soil is ready to produce. It is no respecter of seeds. It shows no favoritism to beautiful, nice grass over horrific, yard-condemning dandelions. It is completely neutral. It sits there, primed and ready, waiting for a seed. Any seed, good or bad, will germinate and produce.
It's no coincidence, therefore, that Jesus used soil as a metaphor for our hearts.
Just like soil, our hearts are not respecters of ideas, passions, and beliefs. Our hearts sit there, primed and ready, waiting for influences. Waiting for ideas. Waiting for beliefs. When any one of those things finds its way into our hearts, it grows.
I wonder if my heart looks a lot like my yard. A mixture of thrown-together chaos- a product of both the good and the bad that I've allowed into my heart.
I constantly study Scripture. That's one of the things I actually do somewhat decently in this thing called the Christian life. I've read through the entire Bible eleven times, and I'm working on my twelfth right now. I would imagine that Scripture has taken root in my heart and is leading and guiding a lot of my beliefs and actions. That would be the Fescue and Bermuda and Bluegrass- my desired produce.
However, I also spend far too much time filling my heart with nonsense. Here is a sampling of what would probably be also growing in my heart:
1. Outlandish one-sided talk radio bloviators who provide simplistic solutions to complex problems and, while doing a good job of antagonizing everyone, don't accomplish much.
2. Movies which constantly undermine my Christian faith by glamorizing sin- couples living together outside of marriage, profaning God's name as a common curse word, drug use and drunkenness as normal, etc.
3. TV shows where families, if together at all, are dysfunctional- men are indecisive buffoons always messing everything up, women are hyena-screeching never-satisfied drama queens who argue and fight all the time, children are "wise" and draw laughs with their smart-aleck disrespect of the buffoon dads and drama queen moms.
Do I truly think that planting these seeds in my heart will have no effect on me? Unfortunately, I can plainly see the results of the bad seeds in my yard. They sprout ugly weeds immediately and crowd out the good seeds I am trying to grow. The results of the bad seeds in my heart, however, are not as obvious.
Or are they?
Jesus said, "By their fruit you will recognize them." Whatever has been planted in your heart- whatever you have ALLOWED to be planted in your heart (all the listings above were put there in my heart by MY choice) will be evident to everyone else. What are your values? Are they shaped by Scripture?
What are your views on marriage? What are your views on tithing? What are your views on gun control? What are your views on government? What are your views on liberty and freedom? What are your views on family? Honesty? Education?
Are these values you hold based on the Word of God? Or are they based on the opinions of this world?
How do you react when something bad happens? Do you have peace in the midst of the craziness, or are you more like the people on TV who fly off the handle at everything?
What type of speech regularly comes out of your mouth? Do I even need to explain?
Your answers to the above questions show what is growing in your heart. What you have planted in your heart is growing and producing fruit. Just like my yard is producing both grass and weeds, many of us have a mixture of good and bad planted in our hearts.
My yard is ugly.
Your heart, if planted with both good and bad, is ugly too.
What I realized last night is that I am responsible for the way my yard looks. Those weeds were planted in my yard on my watch. I was negligent in killing the weeds. I was negligent in sowing good seed all over my yard. Now, the fruit of my negligence is plain for all the world to see.
The same is true of your heart. The evil in your heart was planted in your heart on your watch. You were negligent in guarding your heart. You were negligent in turning off the TV, you were negligent in staying off the internet, you were negligent in filling your heart with the good, and now, the fruit of your negligence is plain for the world to see.
It's time for some weed-killer. It's also time for some grass seed. Both for my yard and my heart.
It's really no coincidence that Jesus used soil as a metaphor for our hearts. What is planted will grow, people. Make sure you are planting the right things. Just like weeds take over a yard, the evil will take over our hearts unless mercilessly uprooted and killed.
"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." Proverbs 4:23
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