TEND YOUR OWN GARDEN!
TEND YOUR OWN GARDEN!
Our hearts are gardens!
This is the simple truth.
And it is up to us to tend our own garden.
Remember the saying “The grass is always greener on the other side”? Well that is because on the other side, they are watering and tending the grass. They mow their lawn when it’s overgrown, the hedges are pruned and the weeds are never left alone to take over the flower pots. Maybe if we paid more attention to our own lawn and less attention to the other side, our grass would be just as green if not greener.
The origin of this saying goes back to a famous Greek poet known as Ovid, who wrote about how people were prone to envying someone else’s fruitful harvest. But before we begin to fantasise about others seeming successful lives and achievements perhaps what we we need to ask is what did they plant in their garden and how did they tend it? In the meantime please take note of the new phrase that has come up to counter the above one that goes like this: “The grass is always greener where you water it.” Exactly!
When we are being idle and busy watching the grass on the other side (that someone is hard at work nurturing!) we do ourselves a disservice. Listen to what the bible says: “A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.” Proverbs 24:33-34 NLT Oh dear! I pray that will never be our lot in Jesus name. Let us be intentional about tending our garden! (about protecting our hearts).
Dear friend, how does your garden grow?
Do you just allow the weeds to grow unchecked?
Do you bother to prune the hedges?
Do you mow the lawn when it is overgrown?
“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45 NLT
How do we get good things into our hearts then? What are we feeding on? What do we keep exposing our heart to?
It is the typical issue of garbage in and garbage out. The gates to our hearts are primarily our ears and our eyes and even our mouths. The impact of what we see and what we hear is very profound. So much so that God warns us: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 NLT
In a nutshell, as long as we do not censor whatever information that is thrown at us, we run the very high risk of having our garden (our heart) in a very undesirable state.
Everything is not for our consumption. Some people have been badly damaged because they allowed every thing pass through their gates uncensored.
The subconscious is extremely very powerful. Nothing is idle in the subconscious. If potentially harmful information finds it’s way through, it begins to impact our thoughts, our emotions, our beliefs, our attitudes and ultimately our actions. They shape us eventually. Some have become monsters, some have become angry and bitter, some have become thieves, some are reckless, some are hardened, some are hating on everybody and everything. Yet it need not be so. The Word of God is very comforting and peace giving. That is what we shoud continually expose our hearts to. Technology allows us to even sleep while the Word surrounds us. That is extremely powerful.
Dear friends, the garden that is lush and beautiful to see, did not happen by accident. It is always an intentional effort.
Two people close to me spend a lot of time nurturing their gardens so much so that when they are out of the house they always look forward to coming back home. How nice!
A well watered, well tended and well nurtured garden is extremely therapeutic. Then imagine a heart like that. It will flow with creative ideas and will always produce and bring forth good fruits of love, joy, peace, patience. There will never be a need to look longingly or enviously at another’s garden.
TEND YOUR OWN GARDEN!
GUARD YOUR HEART!
AND WATCH IT BLOSSOM!
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©