Pruning the Garden is Key

We plant and tend our gardens, then we see the fruits of our labor. One thing I have learned about gardening is that I will never know everything; I have to stay teachable and remember that there is always more to know. As soon as I think I know it all, I miss out.

One of the most important things I’ve learned recently is pruning. To maintain the health and beauty of my garden, many flowers and other plants require pruning at different stages. This is a crucial step in gardening. It can mean the difference between beauty and complete chaos. 

Cutting the dead heads off spent blooms is a great way to help the healthy vines divert energy to new buds, and the creation of new growth, rather than using that energy to expel the spent blooms. In my blog last week, I talked about the coreopsis being in bloom. Coreopsis are quite colorful, and add variety to my flower garden, but once the blooms are done, the heads turn brown and can be unsightly. Deadheading, or pruning is required, not only to keep the garden beautiful, but to increase blooms for seasons to come.

Take a look at the before and after. It is amazing how healthy everything looks once the dead is removed. It takes some work, there is no doubt, but it is necessary to keep the garden healthy.

This is so true in my life too. I can get caught up thinking and churning on real or imagined hurts that should be dead and gone. Rather than pruning them away with confession and forgiveness, praying to Jesus and laying them at his feet, I wrestle with blame or shame. This is not from God. This is the enemy at work, distracting me from the love of Jesus. When I doubt this truth, I only have to read Psalm 103 (posted below).

Just as I cannot neglect the pruning in my garden, I must take care of it in my life as well. The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 that I must take my thoughts captive, to bring them under the authority of Christ. I have to remember that I am not fighting with my thoughts alone, but with an enemy that hates me and will use my shame, anger, bitterness, sarcasm, arrogance, hatred, biases, and secrets against me whenever and however he can to distract me from the love of Christ.

My prayer for us today is that we take the time to prune the things from our lives that are causing us pain, anguish, and bitterness. Lord help us come to you today.

 

Bible references

 

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 NIV

 

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.”

Psalm 103   Of David.

 

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 

The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.

 

He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children—

with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

 

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

 

Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

 

Praise the Lord, my soul.