"Weeding" out the Unnecessary

Tonight I spent time weeding the flower beds that are in front of our house. Why is it that when I plant actual flowers or plants it can be difficult to make them flourish and grow but the weeds seem to multiply overnight? Most plants don't grow naturally but the weeds do and don't need any encouragement.

That is the way that it has always been since sin entered our world. In order to keep the weeds at bay you must be diligent-always watching and pulling and keeping the dirt overturned. This is how it is in our lives as well. If we were to be complacent, the "weeds" would easily take over. We must be diligent as we live one day at a time to be in God's Word and having a personal relationship with Him so that we can keep the "weeds" from choking us. What do I mean by weeds? It would be anything that we would allow to take precedent in our life over Christ-selfishness, greed, worry, or anything that would be opposite from the fruit of the Spirit that is given to us in 

Galatians 5:22-23

" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

We need to be sure that the "soil" of our life is fertile and ready for what Christ has for us so that we can allow all of the principles that He has for us can take root in our lives and grow. He tells the parable of the sower in Mark 4 and explains about the different types of ground that the "seed" falls on and the results that take place. 

"“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

What is your life and heart "soil" like? Is it ready and waiting to flourish with what God wants to plant there? You must be diligent and consistent "because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8