Plants grip weeds beside them. Why? They want something to hold on to.
As I looked at the garden, which I haven’t weeded as faithfully as I should, I realized again that God leaves us messages everywhere. Plants that we want to see a harvest from are trying to support themselves on weeds.
Am I like that? Too often I am. I want support, and I will reach out for anything, even for things that are stealing nutrients from me.
Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” [1]
Paul’s words “assuming that you have heard about him…” hit home. Yes, I’ve heard about Jesus Christ. Yes, I claim Him as my Lord. If that is the case, then I can’t live as if I don’t know Christ. A plant doesn’t know what it is holding on to, but I do. I also know Who it is that holds me. Therefore I must let go of and take off my old self and put on this new self, which is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Jesus Christ is my only righteousness. He has given me new life. It’s time to let go of what I was never intended to hold.
A Prayer
Precious Lord Jesus, thank You for lessons in a garden. Thank you for the new life you have given me. I am so grateful for your death and resurrection and that I have a new self! I've had deceitful desires, but you are renewing me. Thank you for creating me in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. In Your Holy Name, Amen.
Questions to Ponder
What have you found yourself holding onto? Why?
When you think of the new self, what do you see?
How can you live in the way you have been taught in Christ?
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Eph 4:17–24). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
