Work projects are not always the most exciting ministry we do. The African sun doesn’t go easy on our light skin (who knew it was so hot in Africa?!) and the work is usually pretty tough. However, it’s really rewarding getting to help out the people of the community in a really tangible way. One of the big projects that our entire team has pitched in on has been in the community garden. We’ve cleared a large new plot of land of all the weeds and installed a new drip-irrigation system. This last week I was out there pulling up some more weeds. While I was down on my hands and knees I saw some irony in the fact that we are killing and uprooting the plants that are already in the ground so that more useful things can take their place.
In this, I saw an interesting parallel to our spiritual lives. We all have inherent desires that grow naturally in our hearts, but sometimes God wants to grow new things in their place. The problem is that we tell God that he can grow all he wants anywhere in the garden of our hearts, except this one area. We have some weeds that have grown into us with some deep roots, and we’re afraid of what will happen if we give them up . . . But isn’t that what dying to yourself is all about? Giving up your own life so that God can form the person he created you to be? Isn’t it just giving up all the plots of land in your heart so that God can make room in those places for new life to grow–better life.
In John 10:10 Jesus says that he came so that we might have life to the full, but I wonder how many of us are actually rejecting that offer. We are afraid of what it will feel like for some of our own desires to be uprooted, because, frankly, it’s painful. Have we become too content with our less-than-full life? Have we grown too used to the weeds in our garden? God has more for us than that. He wants us to bear all kinds of fruit, but it starts when we give him permission to grow and shape us.
“…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 1:6
Maybe God wants you to give up some of your sin and selfish desires so that he can begin a new work in you. Maybe it’s time we stop being content with the weeds in our garden. Maybe it’s time we clear some land.
