When was the last time you looked around at your circumstances and asked God the Creator to reveal himself to you? The revelations of God are as endless as He is infinite. Recently I found myself understanding more about my relationship with Jesus while I laid border stones and planted flowerbeds.
As I started to work the ground, I encountered deep roots and as I pulled out one root I found another and another. These roots were deep and they weren’t coming out without a fight. As I worked, I was reminded of Hebrews 12:15, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
Once the soil was workable, I had to dig trenches before the stone could be set into place and then the trenches had to be leveled so that the stones would line up. The first stone set into place was the cornerstone with each stone laid in line with it. The trench was lined with a thin layer of leveling sand that was tapped down to fill in the low places. To make the stones fit; I tapped each one into place with a rubber mallet and then used a level to ensure they were in line with the first stone.
After several hours of labor in the heat, I tried to hurry the job up a little but before I knew it, my stones were crooked! I found that if one stone was even the slightest bit unleveled with the first, it wouldn’t show up until I laid the third or fourth stone. So I had to go back to the cornerstone as my reference point and make sure each of the stones after it was perfectly lined up.
Saying all of that, when was the last time we labored this hard on our hearts until our thoughts were in line with Christ? Have you checked the depths of your heart only to find bitter roots growing there?
Keeping with the illustration, we need to get rid of every bitter (harsh, hostile, resentful, merciless) thought which like a root when kept alive will choke out the good that is planted in us. Surely we know that if we nurse merciless thoughts, we can’t expect God to show us mercy. James 2:12-13, “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”
Not only so, we need to make sure we don’t allow those bitter roots to extend into the generations after us (our children and grandchildren) so that the roots choke out the good planted in them. We need to lay every stone—every thought—in line with the Cornerstone who is Jesus Christ. If we allow just one thought to be slightly “off” or out of line with the Word of God, we end up laying crooked beliefs that produce actions which are not pleasing to God. In taking our thoughts captive, we must pound them down so that they are level with the Ruler who is the Son of God. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
We need to be willing to make our hearts workable so that we bear good fruit. As said in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. “ We need to fill in the low spots and level down the high spots with the Word of God which like sand is abrasive at times but is able to keep us on the straight and narrow path. In doing so we can trust the Word, which says “The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.” (1 Sam 26:23)
Planted in the house of the Lord,
Mandy
