Today was hedge trimming day. All hands on deck, well all except mine, I was taking care of the inside of the house. The man was in the yard with all the girls. Trimmers, rakes, brooms, lawn bags, all have made their seasonal debut from the garage to the front yard.
The shrubbery was ruthless, uncontrolled. I'm sure the man said to himself, "I should have been tackling these beasts all year." They really were out of hand. Windows were hidden, other foliage unseen, wandering vines, some shrubs no longer were producing and needed to be replaced.
A trim here, a prune there. Rake it up, bag it up...haul it off.
Step back. Analyse. Observe. Another trim here, another prune there...the process went on ALL day.
While in the midst of my domestic duties, I received a call from a friend. We chatted about life, love and liberty, and our conversation went to thoughts. How our thoughts, ideas, perception can become unruly, out of hand, to the point that we have lost control. We said our goodbyes.
I stepped outside to check on my hard working crew.
I stepped outside to check on my hard working crew.
Revelation! Thoughts are like these hedges! My family was outwardly displaying what we need to be inwardly practicing. We have got to keep our mind pruned and trimmed. Rake up unrighteous ideas and unlovely notions, capture it and get rid of them.
"and if your eye (or thoughts) causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away..."
(parenthesis mine)
Matthew 18:9
The process and labor will need repeating for these wandering thoughts do run amuck...step back, speak truth, be still, pray. Just like the shrubbery, our thoughts need to be maintained or they may develop into a lawless mess.
"and if your eye (or thoughts) causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away..."
(parenthesis mine)
Matthew 18:9
The process and labor will need repeating for these wandering thoughts do run amuck...step back, speak truth, be still, pray. Just like the shrubbery, our thoughts need to be maintained or they may develop into a lawless mess.
"....and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:5
When we let our ideas and speculations grow at will, they can block our window to the truth, they can hide the beauty of what God truly intended for us. Our precepts may not be producing fruits and they must be replaced with His word.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things."
Philippians 4:8
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