We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
I grew up on a little farm in Walnut Grove, AL. We had cows, pigs, chickens, and a very large garden. Unbeknownst to me at the time…we did not have a lot of money and it was necessary for us to raise our own food. The animals and garden supplied what was needed for our family year-round. My parents tended the animals but the garden for the most part was tended by my sister and me.
My daddy was proud of his garden, and he wanted it to be clean and well maintained. But, since he was a carpenter, he could not work in the garden during the sunny days of summer.
So, once the garden was planted, my sister and I were assigned rows of the garden to keep weed free. We had to walk our rows every day and pull up even the smallest weed, making sure to get all of the root and take it out of the garden. Now, daddy didn’t care what time we walked our rows, but he wanted it completed before he got home from work. When his truck would pull into our driveway, my sister and I would go stand at the end of our rows and wait. Daddy would walk through the garden to check our work.
Why was he determined to keep the garden clear of weeds? Because he knew that maintaining a garden daily is a lot easier than weeding one that has been left unattended for days or weeks. He also knew that weeds grow faster than most plants. Weeds choke the life out of the desired product from the garden and that produce from that garden was what my family needed to survive on the rest of the year.
Those small little weeds we pulled up daily are like the thoughts the enemy puts in our minds. Thoughts that take over and crowd our mind where we can’t even see or hear what God is trying to produce in us. Thoughts that are meant to choke the life out the desired product of our life…the full and abundant life we can have in Christ.
Louie Giglio put it this way, “Victory is about examining the seeds that have been scattered in your mind and not letting them take root. It’s about pulling up and throwing away the thoughts that do not coincide with the heart of God.” -from “Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table
Is the garden of your mind well maintained? Or are you producing a harvest of worry, shame, fear, depression, and sin? That is not the bounty that God intended for you to produce. When we pull those thoughts out and replace them with the truth of who our Good Shepherd is and all that He provides for us then our garden will produce peace, joy, love, mercy, and grace. We can then have an active knowledge of what it means at the end of Psalm 23.
“Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Melodie