On Saturday, after 4½ hours of hard labor, we collected fifteen large trash bags full of leaves from our yard. Out of curiosity, we weighed one. Thirty pounds! If that was average, we unloaded almost 500 pounds of leaves from our yard! If that sounds unbelievable, you haven’t heard it all. Those fifteen bags barely scratched the surface – maybe 1/6th of the yard!
We had to acknowledge that we haven’t been the best stewards of our yard over the past few years. You get busy and you stop noticing. The new leaves hide the older leaves. And the piles get bigger. And under them? The grass is missing. Our land is becoming barren.
The same thing happens when we are not good stewards of our hearts. We allow little sins to pile up. Then we cover them up and they become unnoticeable (to us) because of the more sins added on. Soon, it all looks so unmanageable.
What to do?
First, our eyes must be open to see the clutter we have allowed. Ask: What stands between me and God? And then, we must acknowledge our failures before the Lord.
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
After that, we must begin to clear it all away. New grass cannot be seeded in my yard until the leaves are removed. The seeds need to be able to raise up to the light of the sun. Goodness cannot grow in my life unless some weeding is done and the soil is exposed to the light of the Son.
Through it all, the Master Gardener promises that He will help us.
Deuteronomy 31:8: And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.
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