Guardians of the Garden
July 10
As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Mark 4:15
Looking out the window, Dick spotted six whitetail deer munching on green beans and other delectable vegetables the family had planted in the large garden some hundred or so yards from the house. Going outside, several ‘gardeners’ ran toward the deer, waving their arms and shouting while Nancy barked at them like a ferocious dog. The deer merely glanced at them and returned to eating. They just weren’t as afraid as they were hungry for these ‘easy pickings’.
Carol, unwilling to watch all their hard work get devoured by the whitetails, jumped on her John Deer ‘Gator’ and streaked toward the garden at full throttle!
Having closed the distance to fifty yards, she began to scream and shout, waving wildly with her free hand. The deer, deciding they weren’t that hungry, bounded to the edge of the woods. Stopping, they looked back. Carol raced toward them, determined to ‘route the enemy!’
They decided they wanted no part of this crazy human bouncing toward them in the noisy green vehicle! They leaped into the woods and disappeared in the heavy brush.
Wanting to make a lasting impression, Carol drove back and forth along the edge of the woods, screaming, “And stay out of our garden!”
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God’s word is sown in the garden of our heart each time we hear scripture interpreted through a sermon or personal and corporate bible study.
Satan hates that! And like the deer in today’s lesson, he sends his minions to devour what’s not theirs. If we have not spent time meditating on God’s word we can lose it. We must understand that until we make His word living and active in our lives, the enemy can and will steal it from us.
But, what if we were to take Carol’s approach in protecting the crop? What if we actively chased the enemy from the garden and routinely patrolled the perimeter?
This is the lesson of the sower. God plows the soil of our heart and sows His seeds of wisdom and truth. We are responsible, as guardians of the garden, to tend the crop.
Prayer
“Lord, help me guard the words You sow in my heart that they might become living and active. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”
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