SCRIPTURE PROMPT
What Are You Growing in the Garden of Your Heart?
The thoughts we cultivate will transform us
At the end of every meeting of our church youth group when I was young, there was one thing we always did. Whether it was a regular meeting at the church or a beach party, at the end we gathered in a circle, held hands, and recited this benediction together:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14, RSV)
Thus, from my youth, these words were in my mind and heart. Now after a lifespan of almost eight decades, I have a much better idea of what they mean.
Satan wants us to focus on what we don’t have
Sin began with verbal temptation in a garden, the Garden of Eden. God put Adam and Eve in that perfect and beautiful garden and asked them to tend it. They were welcome to eat anything they found there except the fruit of one tree, the tree in the center of the garden.
When Satan, disguised as a serpent, entered the garden to tempt Eve, the first thing he did was draw Eve’s attention to the one tree God had forbidden them to eat from. He planted the idea in Eve’s mind that God had forbidden the couple to eat from it because doing so was a threat to God’s supremacy. It would make them as wise as God when they learned the difference between good and evil.
Then Eve looked at the tree in a different light, the light the serpent had focused on it. She had pretty much ignored it previously because it was off-limits to her. But after her talk with the serpent, she began to think about how good the fruit looked and how eating it would make her as wise as God.
The serpent had changed her thoughts about that fruit, and she and Adam ate it. That decision changed their lives and ours. It ruined their relationship with God and each other. It changed their relationship to the earth itself and the nature of work. You can read all about that in Genesis 3.
Here I want to focus on the change in Eve’s thoughts. At first, Eve was willing to accept God’s limits. She focused on what she had — everything in the garden except the fruit of one tree. After the serpent talked to her, she focused on that fruit God had forbidden, and her desire to eat it grew. Satan will always want to take our focus from all the blessings we do have and put it on thinking about what we don’t. He capitalizes on our Fear of Missing Out.
Even those with a strong relationship with God can fall this way
King David had about all a man could. He was rich. He was powerful. Even God said David was a man after His own heart. He had many wives. But one day he had too much time on his hands.
When he should have been off to battle, he had stayed home. As he walked upon the roof of his house, he saw a woman bathing below. He noticed she was very beautiful. He discovered she was married to Uriah, one of the soldiers away fighting (where David should have been). David sent for her, lay with her, and got her pregnant. Then he tried to cover his sin by getting Uriah to come home for a few days, but Uriah wouldn’t go to his wife while other soldiers were unable to visit theirs. So David arranged to have him sent to the front lines where he was killed in battle. You can read that story in 2 Samuel 11.
Our hearts are like gardens
As in our home gardens, we can’t always choose what sprouts in our hearts. Sometimes thorn seeds blow into our lawns or flowerbeds from other places. We don’t need to plant them for them to begin to grow. But we are each responsible to take care of our heart gardens and get rid of destructive weeds that take root. Thoughts we focus on will grow larger. When we fill our gardens with flowers and nutritious fruits and vegetables, it’s harder for the weeds to find room to grow. Paul gives us advice on how to cultivate our heart gardens:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me — practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4–9, ESV)
Cultivating my heart garden
As I write this today, I’m waiting for a check that was promised on November 22 to be sent within two weeks. It had not yet come yesterday. This check was rental aid for what a tenant could not pay during the pandemic, but it was to be mailed directly to us. On December 20 we got word the payment would be delayed and they’d contact us when it was on its way. It is now January 8.
We have a bill due for almost the exact amount of this check. The creditor has been patient, knowing this money is owed us, but they no longer want to wait. They now want us to get a loan with an upfront origination fee of almost $900. I’m asking God why He’d rather we pay all that interest when this money could go to His work instead. When we could still get the money in just a couple of more weeks. So far there is no answer and no check. I will have to get the paperwork for the loan in by Monday.
It’s tempting to let my heart garden fill with weeds over this, to question God about the timing. I can be anxious or rejoice in the Lord and take all my anxieties to Him, trusting in his wisdom with thanksgiving for all He has provided in the past and present. I have made my requests known to Him. He has promised His peace will guard my mind. I will turn my thoughts to what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. Satan wants me to focus on what’s missing. God wants me to focus on all I have in Him and on who He is.
Satan wants us to be anxious
Satan would like us to meditate on how messed up the world is and how helpless we are to fix what’s wrong in high places and on the streets of our country. He wants us to forget or ignore the fact that God still is in control and is working out His plan for this world. Satan would rather we worry and let television, news commentators, bloggers, and social media nourish the weeds in the gardens of our hearts. Those worries are not what God wants to find in our hearts. He wants to see trust, rejoicing, and thanksgiving.
The words of our mouths come from what’s in our hearts
We talk about what we think about. If we are anxious it will show in our conversations. If we have hope in the midst of difficulties, that attitude will also show in our words. It is my sincere prayer that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable in God’s sight. He is my Strength, my Rock, and my Redeemer.
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