It only took 8 days. That’s how long our family was away on our 2021 Family Extravaganza to Utah, and that’s how long it took for our natural area to be overgrown with weeds.
Weeds are a funny thing because the only thing required for them to grow is neglect. We joke about how, when it rains, our weeds grow faster than our grass. I’ve had people tell me all the things that I need to add to my yard to get my grass to grow, but no products are needed for the weeds. They. Just. Grow.
Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts. The word for guard is active and implies something that we do on a regular and continual basis. Another version captures it this way:
Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23 NASB, emphasis mine)
In other words, we don’t take a vacation from this command because the weeds of the heart grow without any help from us. Have you discovered this? How it takes no effort to drift into complacency, or apathy, or bitterness. The only thing necessary to grow old and bitter is to stop tending the garden of your heart.
But if we want to grow old and better, we must guard our hearts “with all diligence.” Have you neglected your heart? Invite the Holy Spirit to spray it with the truth of the Word and the peace of His presence. As Colossians 3:15 says, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, and watch the weeds begin to die. It’s like Roundup for the soul!
