Keeping A Cultivated Heart A #devotional by Sharon Musgrove

 

Keeping A Cultivated Heart

A devotional by Sharon Musgrove

 

It’s growing season where I come from. Life is springing up everywhere. I’m behind in my gardening, barely having touched my vegetable beds. Just because I haven't worked my soil does not, however, mean that nothing is growing in my garden. Weeds and snails are already thriving and reproducing at a rapid rate.  Without me working to cultivate the soil, all sorts of invasive species take hold.

 

Life is complicated that way. Not just in the backyard, but in our spiritual gardens, our hearts, too. Scripture in both the Old and New Testament give us warning after warning, and encouragement after encouragement in the continuous cultivation of our hearts. 

 

With a fruitful harvest in mind, I began clearing my garden. In fact, I was preparing a new bed that hadn’t previously been part of the garden. As I removed the weeds and sifted out the rocks, I was reminded of one of these many passages...the Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13. In this parable, a farmer scatters seeds over his fields and they fall on four types of soil…a hard footpath, shallow soil with underlying rock, ground containing weeds, and deep fertile loam. Only the worked, rich earth produces an abundant harvest.

 

Yet as I worked, God planted a new seed for thought. I ran my hand through the newly tilled soil and heard in my spirit, You know the soil is ready for seed when it moves easily in the hand of the gardener.  I had just taken ground that was once bound by root balls and littered with stones and was now running my hand through it with ease.  I knew exactly what God was conveying. The tended soil moved with my direction, was soft and warm to the touch. And like the dirt in my hands, these qualities are how I know my heart is ready for new planting from God.  A heart free of the tangle of deceptive thoughts and the clutter of worldly expectations moves more freely by God’s hand.  And it feels good.

 

When, like this garden experience, I hear from God, I pick up my Bible and read His words. It helps me affirm and retain what He is saying.  In doing so, I was surprised when the scripture that came forward was not the Parable of the Sower, but the garden of Eden story in Genesis!

 

Genesis 2:5 (KJV) speaks of the creation story in a state without vegetation in part because “there was not a man to till the ground.” In verse 15, the Lord put man into the garden of Eden “to dress it and keep it,” as well as Genesis 3:23 (KJV) stating, “…the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”

 

We may appreciate the Parable of the Sower as a clever story to help us understand that we have hard hearts or have thorns growing within, but Genesis additionally reveals that part of the Creator’s design for dirt-formed-people is continual cultivation.  If we do not continue to work our ground and “keep it,” then we don’t get to keep it!  We lose ground.

 

Biblically, this is evident in the consequence of Adam’s sin in both exile from Eden and the cursing of the earth. What began for man as a life enjoying the fruitful trees God planted, transitioned to laboring against thorns and thistles. Likewise, ignoring our responsibility in cultivating loving hearts results in a difficult life outside of God’s blessing, shallow, stubborn and smothered.

 

Working the soil can be hard, even painful work.  Unearthing old rubble and pulling up the roots of tenacious weeds forces us to face things we would really rather not.  But God’s promise for us when we do the deep work is a heart-soil that is receptive to new life.  We become people capable of producing good fruit.

 

Spring is the perfect time to be reminded of the internal work we need to be doing.  Easter, celebration of Christ’s resurrection, is approaching.  Will you today, take the cues that nature offers to keep your heart-soil ready for a new Spiritual growth season?

Author Bio:

 

Sharon has been writing and teaching biblically based curriculum, Bible studies, and devotionals since 2007.    

 

She has had the unique position of writing curriculum and teaching for two private, Christ-based, residential recovery programs. Both programs primarily served women in the homeless community.

 

Sharon has traveled multiple times to Kenya, serving on medical teams and teaching in the rural Maasai communities. She’s been privileged to speak in Leadership camps intended on encouraging and empowering the impoverished, underprivileged, and often abused young women.

 

Within these ministries, Sharon has witnessed the transformative power of loving words spoken to the broken-hearted. Sharing God’s love and witnessing its transformative power has become her passion.

 

Sharon and her husband, divide their time between Oregon and Hawaii. They have two grown children. 

 

Currently, Sharon is encouraging others via her inspirational blog, but prefers sharing face to face. Additionally, she is working towards a degree in Ministry. 

 

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Connect with Sharon:

Website: Sharonmusgrove.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sharon-Musgrove-Untethered-102208978041060

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharonmusgrove_untethered/