Have you ever noticed how toadstools seem to spring up overnight? One day the newly mown law looks almost perfect and the very next day its appearance is marred by brown growths.
Just today my daughter pointed out to me a colony of toadstools growing in our front lawn. I hadn't noticed them before, but that is no proof they hadn't been there for a few days. Looking at the intruders made me think of the unseemly things that spring up in our lives when we're not looking; things that grow best in the dark, out of view, out of the sunlight. Things like envy and resentment that start out small, but if allowed to grow will eat away at our soul and destroy our health. In the same way that toadstools look like edible mushrooms, some things look healthy but hold a secret poison. I'm thinking of pride, the very thing we're told we must possess, yet the biggest barrier to experiencing the presence of God. Does He not oppose the proud but give grace to the humble?
It takes a lot of diligence to keep a lawn free of dandelions and toadstools, but it is something we have to do if our lawns are to be healthy and presentable. It takes even more work to keep our lives free of such toadstools as pride and the love of money. Yet without diligence and great care our lives will easily and quickly be overrun by such things because they come so very naturally.
But how are we to see clearly what's growing our lives? How are we to know a blemish from an adornment? The only honest mirror we can turn to is the Word of God. Any mirror of our own making will only deceive us because we will see ourselves as we want to, not as we really are. Do we want the exposure? The conviction? Are we willing to part with our toadstools? Are we willing to entrust ourselves to the Master Gardener? He will cultivate better things in us than destructive fungi and weeds. He said he would.
Just today my daughter pointed out to me a colony of toadstools growing in our front lawn. I hadn't noticed them before, but that is no proof they hadn't been there for a few days. Looking at the intruders made me think of the unseemly things that spring up in our lives when we're not looking; things that grow best in the dark, out of view, out of the sunlight. Things like envy and resentment that start out small, but if allowed to grow will eat away at our soul and destroy our health. In the same way that toadstools look like edible mushrooms, some things look healthy but hold a secret poison. I'm thinking of pride, the very thing we're told we must possess, yet the biggest barrier to experiencing the presence of God. Does He not oppose the proud but give grace to the humble?
It takes a lot of diligence to keep a lawn free of dandelions and toadstools, but it is something we have to do if our lawns are to be healthy and presentable. It takes even more work to keep our lives free of such toadstools as pride and the love of money. Yet without diligence and great care our lives will easily and quickly be overrun by such things because they come so very naturally.
But how are we to see clearly what's growing our lives? How are we to know a blemish from an adornment? The only honest mirror we can turn to is the Word of God. Any mirror of our own making will only deceive us because we will see ourselves as we want to, not as we really are. Do we want the exposure? The conviction? Are we willing to part with our toadstools? Are we willing to entrust ourselves to the Master Gardener? He will cultivate better things in us than destructive fungi and weeds. He said he would.
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