Cultivating your Spiritual Life

As a preacher, one of my aims is to make Scripture come alive for the congregation through the use of illustrations, modeling my preaching after Jesus who used parables and metaphors to express theological truths. Jesus used imagery familiar to the crowds who gathered to hear him. As you may have noticed, most of my sermon illustrations come from music and television. Now that my brown thumb has turned green, the Spirit of God has been showing me biblical and theological truths through gardening.

As previously shared, Joseph has worked really hard to keep our lawn green and lush. It looks beautiful. Imagine my surprise last week when I received a shocking revelation about our lush, green lawn. A representative from our lawn care company was present for our mid-year evaluation. In his evaluation he noted that our lawn was full of weeds. Weeds. What appeared to be healthy blades of grass were actually weeds—wild plants that take over spaces and compete with cultivated plants. Thank God the representative did not leave without giving us a plan for cultivating a lawn that is lush, green, and healthy.

In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul warns us to avoid the weeds—those who are holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. And while it is easy to point the finger at others, as I reflected upon my healthy looking lawn, I was challenged to evaluate my own life and notice the areas where weeds have grown, inconspicuously, and to seek God’s word for a plan for cultivating a life that is wholly pleasing to God. So as you go about your week, I invite you to consider these questions: What weeds have grown in your spiritual life? What do you need to do to cultivate a healthy discipleship?

In Christ’s Love,

Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah