Gardening for Life

I glanced out the window, and noticed two solitary roses blooming on the row of rose bushes.  Those bushes have been a blessing and a curse to me.  The roses on the bush are beautiful and fragrant.  I love using them to grace my table throughout the entire summer.  They make a beautiful centerpiece around a trifle bowl set at the table for company. However, the bushes grow a lot during the summer.  They grow until they are nothing more than a tangled overgrown mess of thorns.  During the winter months I see them in their barren scraggle, and dread the coming pruning.  I don't like pruning the bushes because I am afraid I may cut them too short, uneven, or find myself covered in thorns.  But, for the roses to be healthy and beautiful they need to be pruned.

My life is very much like the row of roses.  Daily I must be pruned.  The pruning in my life takes many different shapes and forms.  Some days I am being pruned, and somedays I am the pruner.  Somedays the pruning involves preventing a favorite food from entering the mouth.  Other days it comes in the shape of a child's imitation that causes me to realize another area to prune out.

Anytime you discover that you have elevated something to greater importance than our Lord and Savior, you must get out the pruning shears.  Not because that "something" is bad and wicked, but in order for your spiritual health.  For example, all of my children love food.  However, one of my children has a passion for eating that far exceeds the normal desire to eat.  So we have established a new rule.  If mommy offers a snack, you may have a snack.  If you ask for a snack, then you will not eat anything until the next meal.  This may sound harsh, but for a child that has made food god, it is a necessity.  Some days I have to be purposeful in not opening the computer until all my morning chores have been accomplished.  Not because the computer is evil or wicked, but because at times communicating via electronics pulls me away from dealing with the reality of my family.  I am being pruned.  Pruning does not mean complete removal of the plant, but a cutting back for fullness and health. 

I want my life to be full of God's goodness and joy.  Not full of the idols I so easily build up in my life. 

What areas of your life has God been pruning?