The garden of love

Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. (Jude 21)

I stood and looked at my small garden in disgust. How could so many weeds have sprung up in the two weeks I was away from home? I knew I should get down on my knees that very day and yank out the offending roots. But I'm not an avid gardener, and it seemed like a lot of work. "I'll do it tomorrow," I announced. However tomorrow, as the proverb says, never came. Weeks later, it took me most of a day to repair the damage I could have taken care of in an hour, if I'd only tackled it immediately.

Today's passage reminds us that we are surrounded by people who do not share our faith, who want to influence our lives and turn us from God's love. The writer of Jude, a half-brother to Jesus, urged us to keep ourselves secure in the love of God. We need to keep our spiritual garden well tended. Many people like to sow weeds of confusion, condemnation, and doubt. We cannot avoid them, nor can we prevent them from planting their evil thoughts in our minds. But we can stop the thoughts from taking root. If we want to continue to grow in our love of God, we must watch for any such thoughts and weed them out the moment they show up in our lives.

Write down an area where you are vulnerable and ask God to strengthen you today.

—Shirley M. Corder