We are currently in the gardening season, and while most of us have our gardens already producing, some may still be starting some new beds. When you are ready to plant a new garden, the first thing you do is prepare the soil. Some people like to till it over and loosen the soil, but I do not like tilling because it will eventually break down and damage the structure of the soil.
I try the layering method. I layer newspaper, compost and then mulch over top of the soil. This keeps the bad seeds from germinating so heavily. Tilling brings the bad seed to light and it starts to grow.
As I was preparing some new blueberry beds the other day, I was thinking about how much the soil is like the heart when we are preparing it to receive the love of Christ Jesus. When we accept the Lord, we die to sin and live for Him. If you prepare the soil the way I do, you don’t want to be scrimpy with the layering.
Think of it this way: The newspaper is our heart being covered with the blood of Jesus. The compost is the Word that we feed on daily, and the mulch is the grace that is His covering over us that protects us from harm and evil.
The compost feeds and keeps the soil healthy, the mulch provides a protective covering and keeps the bad seeds down.
Psalm 91 says that when we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, He is our refuge and our fortress. He keeps all harm and evil from us. We are protected and we are covered by the wings of God.
We don’t just cover up and hide our sin, we give it to the Lord and accept His finished work on the Cross when He died for our sin and gave us His righteousness. In John 15, we read about the vine bearing fruit. Jesus said that if we abide in Him, He will abide in us and we will bear fruit.
Sometimes we want to get in a hurry and till the soil — we want to labor and try to get rid of our sin on our own. That’s hard work, and most of the time we will constantly be battling the soil trying to keep the bad seeds from sprouting.
But if we would try the covering, feeding and mulching method, we would not have to work so hard. In other words, let Jesus’ blood (newspaper) cover your sins, let His Word (compost) feed you daily, and let his Grace (mulch) protect you from harm and evil.
Then every day as we stroll through our garden, we can quickly recognize what doesn’t belong and gently pull it out and leave it at the foot of the Cross.
We won’t have to struggle to pull the bad seed out, because with our daily feeding and our covering, the soil gently lets it go, and doesn’t let it remain. Our hearts are no longer hardened. We no longer have hard soil.
In John 10:10, Jesus said He came to give us life and that we may have it in abundance. John 3:17 says He did not come to condemn us.
When we accept His love and His grace for us, we can watch our gardens grow and be fruitful. When we are telling others about Jesus, we don’t need to try to till their soil and show them all of their bad seeds (mistakes).
We just cover them with love and kindness and let them see how our garden grows and they will see for themselves this easier way of gardening (living) and maybe let Jesus cover them and feed them and protect them as well.