I love to drive down a residential street and see yards beautifully landscaped. The flowers and plants are so bright and colorful and make the house presentation appealing. My dad loves to work in the yard. He spends hours out there each weekend mowing and weeding and trimming and planting. They have beautiful rose bushes along the side of the house and the prettiest potted flowers on the back deck and on the front porch. I am forever commenting on how pretty the yard looks and the beautiful/colorful blooms of their potted plants.
I have to admit that my yard is not beautifully landscaped and the plants and flowers are missing from my porches and yard. I cant and dont have time for the upkeep and the maintenance required for that landscape. I enjoy looking at the pretty flowers but I dont enjoy having to maintain them. The one thing my mom and dad always tell me when I comment on their flowers is that you have to pick off the dead petals. Mom will spend 20 minutes working on the potted flower on the back porch (that one is my favorite) carefully and throughly picking off any piece of the plant that is wilting or any piece that is dead. She explains that in order for the flower to stay healthy and continue to grow she has to pick off the dead pieces. Mom complains that this task is never ending. Just when she thinks she has gotten every last piece, more appear.
You see, if mom doesn't take the time to remove those dead petals they kill any good left in the plant. They suck all the nutrition and health right out of the pot and soil they are planted in. The faded petals are, in a sense, dead weight that keeps the plant from being its best.
If the flowers are plucked and the dead blooms removed, however, beautiful blooms emerge. The flower grows to fill the pot and many admirers notice the color and aroma of the beautiful plant. It thrives and grows. :)
I cant help but relate this to our life with Christ. We know full well that there are places in our heart, thoughts in our mind, and actions of our will that are nothing but dead weight to our spiritual life. Those areas of our life that we allow to cloud my view of Christ and that get in the way of the personal relationship He desires. The faded blooms of our sin are sapping our spiritual energy and strength.
"Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent
and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."
James 1:21 (NIV)
The verse above from James reminds me that we are to get rid of such sins and such barriers and in their place plant God's word. When we plant God's word in our hearts and our souls and drink of His noursihment, beautiful blooms begin to grow and appear. Stand back and watch. Be amazed! God will chose to grow and display the beautiful blooms and flower He disires. The result: A life that shines forth the beauty of the Lord and is an example and encouragement for others.
Become the flower that points others to the Savior!
