Tending our Gardens.
6/13/2013 1:34:24 AM
June 12, 2013~Ephesians #51 in series
Tending our Gardens.
Summertime … love it! Love that my sons are out of school, schedules are soon to be more flexible, and my garden is abloom. Actually, my roses have already bloomed through a cycle, and are gaining energy to blossom again. In the meantime, my Queen’s Anne’s Lace carries the day. Take a look!
Heading out to the back garden to plant some cheery sunflowers, however, I have encountered a challenge—when I pointed the tip of my little shovel in the ground, I encountered dry, rocky soil … why, the earth was quite difficult to penetrate! ‘Huh,’ I pondered, ‘even if I get these guys in the ground, I wonder if they will they grow here?’
Things just do not grow where the environment is hard, rocky or hostile…like our hearts, for instance. Sin causes a hostile environment; indeed, from the moment, Adam and Eve made their choice to do the one and only thing God instructed them not to do, the sin condition entered the world. Their hearts were irrevocably changed, as they were then subject to decay, and also to hardness and callousness.
Hardness of heart is like that rocky, dry soil of mine, you know, though of course a hard heart is far worse than rocky ground! Not surprisingly, Jesus referred to the heart quite a bit in the Gospels. He could not abide hardness of heart. For instance, Mark records Jesus being grieved over hard hearts several times; hard hearts are not teachable hearts. The callousness of the religious zealots and Pharisees infuriated Jesus; for one thing, hard hearts are neither compassionate or concerned of others. They are also quite likely to be judgmental of others.
Jesus was an ‘all or nothing’ kind of guy, just like his Father. God wants us to surrender all of who we are to him; after all, he didn’t just give us half of Jesus, now did he? (That’s a good line, by the way) When teachers of the Law tried to trip up Jesus, by backing him into a corner, he had a ready answer. ‘So Rabbi… (teacher) which one of the commandments do you say is the greatest?’ Friend, you have to know the Shema to recognize the brilliance of Jesus’ response. The Shema, out of Deuteronomy 6, was the oldest Jewish prayer, a declaration of faith, and belief in one God. ‘Which one of the commandments is the greatest?’ they asked. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Did you catch it? We are to love God with ALL of our hearts.
And so, here at the start of a new season (in the Western Hemisphere anyway), just as an attentive gardener surveys and tends what needs some care, I invite you to open your heart and look inside . . . ask yourself this question: what would it take for me to have a healthy heart--one that is uncorrupted or hardened—like untenable soil? Ask God the same. Then, surrender yourself to your dear Lord ... go ahead, give yourself wholly to him! Then, watch and listen, so that he can lead and guide you, and tender growth can be maintained.
“Dear Lord, when I am honest with myself, I recognize that my heart/mind are anything but pure. I want to be wholly devoted to you. Lead me. Show me where I have allowed my heart to grow hard, calloused or apathetic. I might have the prettiest flowers in my garden, but I want to have a healthy heart that is growing toward you, for the garden of my heart, well, that is the most important one!
Happy Summer!
Christine